Equal to None
by Astromormy
Summary: Ichigo's use of the Final Getsuga Tensho changes his life, but not in the way he expected. As Ichigo grows accustomed to these changes, he makes the choice to save a dying hollow, and the repercussions of this choice will change the fate of the Soul Society forever. This story was inspired by "The Shark in the Moonless Sky" by The Night Hunter. Assertive, Godlike Ichigo.
1. Chapter 1

** Hi, now before anyone tries to murder me with complaints about how something isn't up to their standards, just know that this is my first fanfic and although I've read a hundreds of stories, my grammar is NOT perfect and there might be a few mistakes here and there. In order to fix these errors please just tell me what was wrong and how to fix it. Also, if you think the story can be improved in some way then just leave a comment for me to look at. If you liked the plot idea for this story then you absolutely MUST read "The Shark in the Moonless Sky" or its remake "The Shark in the Moonless Night" by The Night Hunter. It is one of the single greatest stories I've ever read and was the original inspiration for this story so there will be some similarities, but I will be adding my own twist to it so don't worry. This story will have lemons, but they will be far down the line so I can create the characters personalities and build up suspense for the story because this will be an actual story and not just some one-shot. At the moment, the only people I have planned as Ichigo's lovers are Harribel as the main with Neliel and Yoruichi as ones that come in a little later. Lastly, although this isn't a crossover, it may become one with Naruto in the VERY distant future.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 1**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

Ichigo's whole body ached as he stared in horror at Aizen as he healed from the damage his Mugetsu had caused him. He had used his ultimate technique, the Final Getsuga Tensho, a move so powerful that it required the sacrifice of all his soul reaper powers. Now that it was over, he could feel what was left of his powers quickly fading away like smoke in the wind, and yet, despite having been cut in half, Aizen was healing and would soon be back at full strength, finally able to accomplish his goal of ruling the Soul Society as a god.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," whispered Aizen quietly. "You've lost this battle. Observe as I transcend into a form even greater than yours. With your death, my victory will be absolute and this world will perish, as it should," he finished with a small scowl.

As Ichigo's vision began to flicker he saw Aizen speaking, but in his fevered state failed to comprehend most of what was said, yet he understood enough to know that if he failed today everything would be lost. With that last thought fueling his determination, Ichigo, regardless of the consequences, gathered every bit of power left in his body and pulling his arm back, pushed everything he had into his right fist and slammed it into Aizen's chest, ripping the hogyoku from his body.

Normally Aizen would have been able to dodge that attack with laughable ease, but in his weakened state, Aizen could only stare in shock at the giant hole in his chest as Ichigo ripped the hogyoku out of him.

Thinking he had managed to land a killing blow, Ichigo was shocked when he heard a dry chuckle coming from Aizen.

Coughing up blood, Aizen managed to say, "A noble act boy, but even if the hogyoku isn't inside m-." He didn't get a chance to finish as a giant glowing red spike pierced his chest.

"What is this?!" yelled Aizen in pain.

"That would be my kido finally taking affect," said a voice off to their right.

"Kisuke Urahara," spat Aizen in pain. "You of all people should know that its too late to stop me."

"Not quite Aizen. While I admit that killing at this point would be nigh impossible, you'll find that's not quite what I'm doing," explained Urahara calmly.

As Urahara said this several more kido spikes pierced Aizen's body and caused it to begin reverting back to normal as the power of the hogyoku split from it.

"NO, what is this; what are you doing to me?!" shouted Aizen in shock as a white, fluid like substance, not unlike a hollow's mask, began encasing his body.

"The kido I cast on you is a seal. It prevents you from drawing on hogyoku's power while also sealing you off from your own. The reason it's only now taking affect is that before your soul was too powerful to be sealed, but thanks to Ichigo fighting you so hard and forcing you to your limit, your power started to weaken, and the hogyoku can't have a weak master," said Urahara calmly as the the white substance steadily encompassed Aizen's body.

"You're wrong, its impossible, no mere kido could ever seal me!" yelled Aizen in denial as he struggled to escape the shell that was quickly overtaking him.

As his body was being overtaken by the shell, Aizen grunted in pain as the spikes that had pierced his chest suddenly changed form and became massive glowing red crosses. Glaring at Urahara he shouted, "How could you subjugate yourself to that _thing_, it deserves to die for what it's done, for all the crimes it's committed!"

Sighing, Urahara said, "It's true, he deserves to die for what he's done and if there was ever a real chance of you killing him then I would have even helped you before you became set on sacrificing innocent lives to accomplish it, but sadly, even at the height of your power, you still had no glimmer of a chance at ever killing him."

"NO, my mission won't die with me, I'll do what ever I have to make sure he dies!" shouted Aizen.

Throughout this exchange Ichigo had only been able to stare in awe as Aizen's body was quickly overtaken by the kido until only his head remained and thus was surprised when Aizen turned to him and said, "Kurosaki, you think I'm a monster for what I tried to do, but my actions are nothing compared to the atrocities committed by that _thing _they call the Soul King. I saw the kind of power you wielded and I know why you fight. This is why I entrust my legacy to you so that you might accomplish what I could not and finally bring peace to the Soul Society." As he finished his final words the seal finally completed and Aizen was imprisoned in a massive tri-cross.

As the dust settled and the adrenaline that had been fueling Ichigo faded he felt his eyes start to close and body collapse.

"ICHIGO!" shouted Urahara. "Ichigo, wake up, you can't die yet," he said frantically as he ran towards the fallen teen. As Urahara was about to lift him up and take him to Orihime to be healed, he saw a brief, but bright flash come from Ichigo's right hand. When he looked down he immediately noticed what WASN'T there.

The hogyoku was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

When Ichigo awoke he heard voices above him arguing about something he was sure concerned him, but when he opened his eyes and made to get up the fighting immediately stopped and he was met with the serious faces of his zanpakuto and inner hollow.

"Zangetsu, whats...?" began Ichigo curiously but stopping when he noticed everything that was happening around them, his inner world had returned to being populated by colossal skyscrapers, but those same towers were now in the process of collapsing into a great black void far below them.

"Zangetsu, whats happened hear?!" asked Ichigo in shock.

Instead of answering, Zangetsu said, "Ichigo, you need to leave this place immediately, if you do not then you too will die."

"Die," said Ichigo dully, realization slowly dawning on his face. Shaking his head vigorously, he said, "No, I won't let you two to die because of my choices, there must be something we can do to stop this."

"No, its to late for us, you see that black void down there, that is the concentrated reiryoku of the Final Getsuga Tensho, it's power is even greater than that of the oin's(King's Seal) and in a few moments it will collapse this building sending anyone on it to their doom and if you're still here when that happens then you too will die," said Zangetsu sternly.

"NO, I can't just leave you to die, there's got to be something we can do!" responded Ichigo angrily.

"THERE IS NONE, when you used the Final Getsuga Tensho it's reiryoku flooded your soul giving you nearly unlimited power temporarily, but no soul can hold that much power and survive," shouted Zangetsu angrily.

"**Don't lie to him old man. There's a way and you know it**," said the inner hollow scathingly.

"What is it, if its possible I'll do it?" said Ichigo determinedly though slightly surprised that his inner hollow was _willingly _helping him, even when under threat of death.

"No, I won't allow it, it's too risky," said Zangetsu stubbornly.

"**TOO RISKY! You plan to leave him powerless against hollows. Of the two, I would choose the one where I at least have a chance, face it, you just don't want him to know what you really are**," said the inner hollow angrily.

Not liking the look on Zangetsu's face, Ichigo quickly said, "Zangetsu, I don't care if you have some secret, you've always protected me when I couldn't an if there's something your not telling me then I know its for a good reason, but without my powers I won't stand a chance against hollows." He knew it was cruel playing on Zangetsu's desire to protect him, but if it meant he could protect them then he would.

Zangetsu just stared passively for a moment, not showing the slightest emotion before sighing in defeat and saying, "Fine, I will allow him to at least attempt it."

Smiling psychotically the inner hollow said, "**Great, listen hear king, if you want to keep your powers, you're going to need to absorb all of that rampant reiryoku down there using your latent quincy powers and I would hurry if I were you, there are only a few more buildings left standing.**"

"My WHAT, I don't have quincy powers, the only powers I have are hollow and soul reaper," said Ichigo aghast.

"**Yes you do and if you don't hurry were all going to die, now get down there**," his inner hollow all but shouted at him.

"Well even if I do have quincy powers I don't know how to use them," said Ichigo desperately.

"**That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself, now GO!**" shouted his inner hollow and before Ichigo could respond his inner hollow picked him up and threw him over the edge of the building as it too began to collapse.

Fierce determination, that was the only thing he felt as he fell. Zangetsu and even his inner hollow to an extent had helped him protect his loved ones and now it was his turn to return the favor. As Ichigo's form hit the void he felt what could only be described as infinite, he had felt extreme power before, Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa had been greater than anything he had felt before, and yet, that power compared to what he felt now was but a grain of sand in a dessert.

Focusing his mind Ichigo began trying to absorb the surrounding reiryoku only to realize he didn't have any idea how. Just as Ichigo's body began to dissolve, consumed by the Final Getsuga Tensho's power, an idea came to him, when he had asked how a quincy's arrow was formed Uryu had told him that a quincy's arrow and bow were formed by pushing your reiryoku outward and shaping it, maybe he could absorb the rampant reiryoku by doing the opposite.

Two things happened when Ichigo started trying to pull the reiryoku into his body, one, it worked, two, it was killing him. As a nearly unlimited amount of reiryoku began flowing into his body he remembered what Zangetsu had said about the Final Getsuga Tensho, about how no soul could withstand that much power and survive. Just as Ichigo's eyes began to close he felt a hard yank and the next thing he knew he was lying on his back atop the skyscrapers with Zangetsu looking worriedly down at him.

"I tried to warn you, even the quincy king himself would have been unable to absorb that much reiryoku and survive," said Zangetsu sadly.

"NO, why did you pull me out, I could have done it!" yelled Ichigo angrily.

"You would have died and it would have changed nothing. Now go, this building will collapse in just a few more moments," said Zangetsu sadly.

"No, I won't leave you two. You said that the quincy king would have been unable to absorb that much reiryoku and survive right, well then I'll happily give my life to save you two," said Ichigo stubbornly.

"**You IDIOT, if you die, we go down with you. Why else do you think I would ever bother helping a dumb ass like you? Its to late for us now, so there's no point in you staying and getting yourself killed for nothing!**" shouted the inner hollow angrily, completely surprising Ichigo.

"I thought you wanted me dead," said Ichigo surprised.

"**I do, but if anyone's going to kill you it's going to be me and in order for that to happen you need to stay alive**," said the hollow irritably, completely ignoring his own impending doom.

Just then the building began to quake as the building began tilting dangerously towards the ocean of reiryoku below it.

"YOU NEED TO GO NOW!" shouted Zangetsu.

"NO!" shouted Ichigo and before anyone else could make a move Ichigo ran over to the edge and dove down into the ocean of black far below.

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO," yelled Zangetsu with enough pain in his voice that even the hollow felt an ache where his heart should be.

Going down this time Ichigo had no doubts in his mind that he would die if he did this, but even if it meant his life he would do what he could to protect the two that had always been there for him, willingly or not. As Ichigo hit the reiryoku this time he immediately began absorbing the reiryoku and when his body began to burn he just kept going, striving to absorb enough of it that his inner world and thus inner hollow and zanpakuto spirit would be spared.

As all this was taking place Zangetsu and the hollow could only stare in awe as the ocean of began to decrease until finally all that was left was something that was vaguely humanoid.

Ichigo felt his body dissolving and he knew it would only be a few seconds until his soul evaporated and his partners died. As his eyes began to close he could only stare as what was left of his inner world finally collapsed and right before he fell unconscious, he wished that he could have saved them.

Ichigo sat bolt upright breathing heavily, it had seemed so real, he had died trying to save his inner hollow and Zangetsu from destruction after he used the Final Getsuga Tensho. Looking around he discovered that he was safely at home in his bed with the morning sun just beginning to bathe his room in light as it rose above the horizon. Deciding it had all just been a nightmare, Ichigo yawned and slouched towards the bathroom. Rubbing his eyes, when Ichigo looked up at himself in the mirror he had to stifle a shout, he was in his soul form, but that wasn't what had him so shocked, there was a gray, shell like armor covering his entire body up to just below his eyes and it looked VERY similar to something he thought had just been a dream.

Quickly making sure the door was closed Ichigo looked back at the mirror and noticed several things that seemed very odd. He had already verified that this shell like covering was indeed the same as the Final Getsuga Tensho's, but all the other changes that had happened to his body when he used it were curiously absent. His hair was normal, though a bit longer than normal from his time in the Dangai, his eyes were still their original brown color, and there was no black reishi surrounding his body; in fact the only thing that was the same as the Final Getsuga Tensho was the armor like covering surrounding his body, but unlike last time where it left his left side uncovered, this entire body was now covered in the mysterious armor.

As the initial shock of discovering he had the Final Getsuga Tensho's armor on faded Ichigo started to wonder why he was like this. Thinking back to what he thought had been a dream he remembered that he had absorbed the reishi of the Final Getsuga Tensho to save his inner hollow and Zangetsu, but what about his soul reaper powers, had they disappeared or did he still have them. He quickly verified this by using flash step and pushing some of his reiryoku into his hand which he was surprised to find had changed to a pitch black color instead of the light blue it had been.

At this point he could feel a headache coming on as more and more questions appeared in his head that he decided to go ask his father to see if he knew anything about what had happened to him. As he walked down the stairs he heard his father on the phone with whom he could only assume was Urahara. Deciding to listen in, he heard his father say, "I don't know whats wrong with him Kisuke, he's been asleep for eighteen hours already and hasn't shown any improvement from when you brought him here and that's to say nothing about his total lack of spirit energy. I thought you said his powers would stabilize,".

"Yes I know I need to be patient, but I had enough trouble getting his sisters out the house with out them going in to check on him, if we don't figure something out soon they WILL find out and what are we going to tell him when he does wake up, that he lost all his powers immediately and won't be able to talk to his friends in the Soul Society ever again," finished Isshin frustrated.

Deciding he had heard enough, Ichigo decided to make his presence known in the most subtle way he could think of, by flash stepping to directly in front of his dad. Suffice it to say that the resulting scream had several people on the outside turning their heads towards the Kurosaki Clinic. After his abrupt entrance nearly gave his dad a heart attack and the resulting chaos had died down Ichigo was met with the shocked face of his father.

Schooling his features, Isshin calmly said, "Um Kisuke, I'm going to have to let you go now, things just got a lot more complicated,". Before he could say anything, Ichigo was forced to duck as his father tried to punch him in the face.

"What was that for you old goat," shouted Ichigo at his father.

"That was for worrying me and just to make sure it was really you," said Isshin seriously.

"What do you mean, who else could it be," said Ichigo steamed.

"Well I don't know do I, for all I know you could be a hollow in disguise, its not as if you don't look different," said Isshin angrily.

"Ya well you could have asked instead of attacking me," shouted Ichigo back at his father.

"I guess I could have," said Isshin thoughtfully, causing Ichigo to smack his face in frustration.

"This isn't what I came down here for. I want to know whats happened to me. I was told that if I used the Final Getsuga Tensho I would lose my powers permanently and instead of losing them, "_this_," happened," said Ichigo gesturing to himself.

"Look Ichigo, were just as much in the dark about this as you are. All we know is that right after you fell unconscious the hogyoku disappeared and when Orihime tried to heal you with soten kisshun her power broke," said Isshin at a loss. "Now I've got a question for you, what was that you did just now?" he asked curiously.

"What?" asked Ichigo completely nonplussed.

"When you appeared in front of me, what was that?" asked Isshin.

"A flash step," said Ichigo confused.

"That wasn't a flash step," said Isshin shaking his head.

"What?" asked Ichigo shocked.

"Look, its obvious somethings happened and I don't have all the answers, but you should go see Kisuke, something tells me that he knows more than hes letting on," said Isshin seriously.

"Fine, I needed to go there to pick up my body anyway," said Ichigo before flash stepping away.

When Ichigo appeared in front of Urahara's door he was surprised he'd managed to cover so much distance in a single step. Walking up, he knocked and a few moments later he was met with the surprised face of Urahara.

"Who are yo..., ICHIGO, is that you?" asked Urahara shocked at Ichigos appearance. "How did you get here so fast, I haven't been off the phone with your father for a minute and you're already here?" asked Urahara confused.

"All I did was a flash step; although, I will admit I was a bit surprised when I made it here in just one step though," said Ichigo thoughtfully.

Thinking for a moment,when Urahara looked back up at Ichigo, he seemed to have that spark in his eye that he only got when he was excited or was thinking of doing highly questionable.

"Alright Ichigo, this is what I want you to do; I want you to flash step to just over there," said Urahara pointing to a spot in the yard a few meters away.

"What? Why do you want me to flash step over there?" asked Ichigo surprised at the odd request.

"Just do it, I'll explain in a minute," said Urahara, the mad gleam in his eye even more prominent than before.

Swallowing his questions for the moment, Ichigo quickly flash stepped over to where Urahara had pointed and back.

When Ichigo looked back at Urahara he noticed the now smug look on his face.

"What are you so happy about, I've done what you wanted now answer my questions," said Ichigo, irritated at the eccentric shop owner.

"Alright, Alright," said Urahara hoping to placate the angry teen. "Lets go in to talk; we can't risk anyone over hearing," he said, suddenly serious.

Ichigo knew enough that when Urahara got serious it was either extremely important or he had bad news, personally, he was hoping for the first one.

Once they were seated Urahara sat for a moment before saying calmly, "What you just did was not a flash step, it was teleportation."

"WHAT, but teleportation not possible," said Ichigo disbelievingly.

"It is possible and it seems what ever happened to you has made it possible for you to teleport, something which has only happened twice before to two young children," said Urahara firmly.

"Uhhhhh, why does this stuff always happen to me?" groaned Ichigo into his hand "I thought if I used the Final Getsuga Tensho I would lose all my Soul Reaper powers and that would be it. I'm not saying I'm not glad to still have my powers, but I need to know whats happened to me." he finished, stress clear in his voice.

It was at this point that Urahara remembered that Ichigo was still technically a teenager, not even an adult, and yet he had been faced with the challenges of a man. Deciding to reassure him that he would be fine, Urahara said, "You just need to relax. We've dealt with things like this before and we'll deal with this. Besides, I may only be able to say for certain that you can now teleport, but that alone tells us quite a lot," he finished trying to sound upbeat.

"What does it tell you then?" asked Ichigo, perking up at the chance to learn more about what had happened to him.

"Well the first thing you'll need to understand is that teleportation is only possible with a high enough amount of pure reishi in a soul," explained Urahara.

"Pure reishi, whats that?"asked Ichigo baffled.

"There are three known types of reishi, the first is the most common and is what most souls and the soul society are composed of, it's called base reishi. The second kind is corrupt reishi and is what hollows are composed of, now before you get the wrong idea, corrupt reishi isn't bad by any means, its base reishi that has been compressed to the point it implodes on itself. This is why developing hollows explode before reforming elsewhere. Finally, the third type of reishi is as I said before, pure reishi. Pure reishi is by far the rarest type and thus not much is known, in fact, there's only one known collection of pure reishi contained within an object known as the oin or "king's seal". By studying the oin we have discovered that all soul reaper power stems from the amount of pure reishi contained within a soul and that when exceptionally high amounts exist within a soul it can lead to unique and powerful abilities. Teleportation is one of these unique abilities," lectured Urahara.

"But what is "high"?" asked Ichigo.

"Well most souls are composed of 100 percent base reishi, but unlike regular souls, a soul reapers soul has an additional component, pure reishi. The base reishi of a soul reapers soul usually makes up about 99.999 percent and that last thousandth is pure reishi. For someone like the Captain Commander though, his soul likely contains 0.010 percent of pure reishi and that's why he's so strong," said Urahara thoughtfully.

After a moment Urahara looked at Ichigo surprised he hadn't asked any more questions and saw the doubt splattered across his face.

"Whats wrong?" asked Urahara curiously.

"Oh come on, you expect me to believe this crap, .001 percent, give me a break, anything that small would be worthless," said Ichigo annoyed.

"That's not true Ichigo. What you need to understand is that just because its a small amount doesn't mean it isn't powerful. The oin is hardly the size of my palm and yet it has more power than the entire Soul Society combined and could easily destroy it if someone were to use its power for evil. Furthermore, you and Orihime have exceptionally high levels of pure reishi granting you each extraordinary powers; what else could it be but pure reishi content?" asked Urahara rhetorically.

"Well I don't know do I, it just seems so unbelievable," said Ichigo irritably. As Ichigo said this images of his time in his inner world popped into his head, prompting him to say, "Uh, Kisuke, there wouldn't happen to be a way to manually check how much pure reishi you have, would there?" he asked, suddenly calm.

Surprised at his change in tone, Urahara responded, "Yes, but why would you want to check it manually,".

"I just do alright. I'm testing a theory; I'm sure that's something you can understand," said Ichigo allusively.

Relenting, Urahara said, "Alright, just give me a minute to get the supplies,".

After several minutes of rummaging through boxes Urahara came back with a small device in his hand.

"Is that it?" asked Ichigo surprised at the size of the machine.

"Yes, now push some of your reiryoku into this," said Urahara curious as to why Ichigo would want to do this.

As Ichigo pushed some of his reishi into the machine the room was instantly darkened as seemingly all the light in the room gravitated and was lost in the darkness that was his reishi greatly surprising Urahara who just stared in shock as the machine began to calculate.

When Urahara looked down at the machine his heart seemed to stop at the number that was shown.

When Urahara didn't make any action Ichigo began to worry that something had gone wrong, because of this when Urahara suddenly looked up at him Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Blast it Kisuke, whats wrong with you?" asked Ichigo angrily.

When Urahara still didn't respond Ichigo realized there was only one way to break him out of his daze. Smiling evilly he called out, "Yoruichi, are you here?"

After a few seconds Ichigo heard footsteps coming and a moment later the door opened showing a confused Yoruichi.

"Kisu..., Who are you," asked Yoruichi bluntly.

"Oh come on, does no one recognize me now?" asked Ichigo flabbergasted.

"What do you mea... Ichigo is that you?" asked Yoruichi shocked at his appearance.

"Yes Yoruichi, its me," said Ichigo hoping to get the worst part over with now.

"Wha-Whats happened to you? I'm not saying you don't look completely bad ass, but holy shit." asked Yoruichi gesturing to his body.

"That's what were trying to figure out, but Kisukes fallen into some kind of trance or something; I'm not even sure he's blinked yet," said Ichigo, glad to be changing topics.

"Hmm, I've seen this before. In my expert opinion I'd say that he just discovered something that he previously believed to be impossible, luckily though, there's a cure," said Yoruichi professionally but the image was ruined when a small smirk started to appear on her face.

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Ichigo cautiously asked, "Uh, whats the cure?".

"Do you really want to know?" asked Yoruichi, her previous smirk now a full fledged cheshire grin.

"Uh, do I?" asked Ichigo sensing the impending doom in the air.

Laughing evilly at Ichigo's plight she said, "Oh don't worry so much. If your like any other guy I know then you'll love whats about to happen."

Before Ichigo could say anything more Yoruichi had stripped nude and was now pushing her breasts against Urahara's chest.

"Ohhhh Kisuke," said Yoruichi in a sing song voice.

As Yoruichi was doing this, Ichigo seemed to be cowering in the corner, while in reality he was crouched down and trying his best to get the image of a nude Yoruichi out of his head. "Come on, get out of my head, think of something different, it shouldn't be possible for her to strip that fast" groaned Ichigo.

"What did you do to him Ichigo, he's not even responding to my lovely body?" asked Yoruichi grumpily, shocking Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"Are you clothed yet?" asked Ichigo tentatively.

"Oh come on, I'm just proud of my body. There's nothing wrong with that is there," said Yoruichi innocently. "Besides you know you want to look. Come on, I won't mind," she purred seductively into his ear.

"Get out of my head," shouted Ichigo red in the face.

Laughing melodiously, Yoruichi said "Just imagine if Aizen knew all it took to beat you was a beautiful, nude woman."

"Can you please put some clothes on so we can focus on getting Kisuke to focus," groaned Ichigo desperately.

"Oh alright, but you and me are going to be spending a lot more time together," said Yoruichi smirking mysteriously as she put on her clothes. "But now on to business," she said clapping her hands together. "What exactly was Kisuke doing before he started staring off into space?" asked Yoruichi.

"Well, he was explaining different types of reishi to me and when he checked to see how much pure reishi I had in me he just stared at it and the rest you know," said Ichigo at a loss.

"Hmm, lets see," said Yoruichi as she looked over Urahara's shoulders at the device. Yoruichi's eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she too stared blankly at the number shown.

"Uhh, Yoruichi, Yoruichi, YORUICHI," shouted Ichigo irritated that she too at fallen into a daze. "Forget this," said Ichigo too him self as he walked out of the room, but returned a minute later with a bucket of cold water which he then proceeded to throw over both Urahara and Yoruichi.

"Ahhhh, who did that," yelled Urahara and Yoruichi finally breaking out of their daze.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up," said Ichigo sarcastically.

Smiling evilly, Yoruichi said, "Why Ichigo if I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to get me naked again, I mean look how hard my nipples are."

As the blood went straight to his face Ichigo immediately regretted throwing cold water over Yoruichi, "Umm uh," stuttered Ichigo trying and failing to form a coherent sentence.

"Don't tease him so much Yoruichi," chastised Urahara, earning a grateful look from Ichigo. Then smirking, said "There will be time for that later," causing Ichigo's face to drop in horror of what was to come. Turning serious, Urahara said, "For now we have bigger things to worry about. Ichigo, do you remember what I said about the concentration of pure reishi in a soul reapers soul?"

"Ya, I remember. You said that the amount of pure reishi in a soul affects how strong a soul reaper they are " said Ichigo not sure where he was going with this.

"Correct. Now, when I first looked at your concentration of pure reishi I thought I'd read the numbers wrong or the machine was faulty, but I was mistaken. Your soul is composed entirely of pure reishi. There isn't a single speck of base reishi in your soul. In other words, you have the literal powers of a god at your fingertips," finished Urahara dramatically.

That was the last thing Ichigo heard before his eyes rolled back and he fell to the floor in a dead faint.

As Urahara stared down at Ichigo he sighed and said "I tried to tell Isshin that he should rest longer, but he hung up on me. Come on Yoruichi, lets move your boyfriend somewhere other than the floor,".

"He is not my boyfriend," said Yoruichi hotly, but hen smirking said "Yet."

After they set Ichigo down on a bed Yoruichi left to do, as she said, "girl things," while Urahara remained behind to make sure Ichigo was situated, but as Urahara got up to leave a wave of chilling spiritual pressure greater than that of even the Captain Commander's washed over him causing him to stumble. When he looked back he was shocked to see Ichigo standing there, but this Ichigo was completely white and was sporting a psychotic grin.

"You...," said Urahara as memories of a dark night 18 years ago surfaced.

Instead of answering the Ichigo look alike just smiled even wider.

"I thought you were dead," said Urahara harshly while unsheathing his sword.

Speaking for the first time, the look alike said, "**What can I say; I'm hard to kill**," somehow managing to grin even wider.

At this moment, before Urahara could respond, Yoruichi crashed through the door ready to fight the intruder.

"What the...," said Yoruichi confused.

"That's not Ichigo Yoruichi, its his inner hollow and an enemy long thought dead. Don't underestimate him," warned Urahara.

"**He's right you know. I'm nothing like Ichigo and if I were in control when you were teasing him...**," said the inner hollow laughing evilly at the thought and causing Yoruichi to blush furiously and narrow her eyes at him.

"No more games hollow, what do you want?" asked Urahara, narrowing his eyes at him.

"**Well for starters, you can come out from behind me. I've already warned you; I'm nothing like that weakling Ichigo**," said the inner hollow maliciously.

Narrowing his eyes even further, the Urahara standing in front of the inner hollow popped and reappeared behind the inner hollow before flash stepping to the portable gigai's former position.

"**Now on to business. I didn't come here to fight you unfortunately. I came here to warn you and to make several things very clear**," said the inner hollow suddenly becoming serious.

Despite the sudden change in attitude, Urahara was still weary of the hollow, but very curious as to what could be so important to the hollow. "What do we need to know that we couldn't figure out for ourselves?" asked Urahara suspiciously.

"**I came here to, above all else, warn you not to let Ichigo use his mask. If he uses his mask, untold of destruction will be unleashed the likes of which has never before been seen**," said the inner hollow with narrowed eyes.

"What?! Why would untold of destruction be unleashed and why would you want to stop it?" asked Urahara accusingly.

Growling, the inner hollow said, "**I would love to destroy Ichigo, take control for myself, and kill all my enemies, but unfortunately, part of achieving that dream would be him using my power, that's the only reason I allowed him to beat me in the first place, and yet, there would be a bit of a problem if **_**everything**_** was destroyed, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the human world, **_**everything**_**, as in nothing left to even stand on.**"

When they heard this Urahara and Yoruichi could only stare in shock at what the inner hollow was implying, after a moment Urahara said "Even if destruction of that scale were possible the Soul King wouldn't let it happen."

Upon hearing this the inner hollow cackled madly, sending chills up Urahara's and Yoruichi's spines at seeing Ichigo's face take on an expression of such contempt and malice. "**You know what the Soul King is. Do you honestly think he would give a damn if every soul and living being dropped dead and chaos was unleashed until every realm had been utterly destroyed? As long as it doesn't affect him directly, he doesn't care, and besides, you seem to be laboring under the illusion that he would survive the destruction and even if he did, that he would be any match for us after combining**," spat the inner hollow maliciously.

Deciding to humor him for the moment, Urahara asked, "Alright, say what your saying is true and Ichigo using his mask will unleash destruction. How is such a thing possible?".

Sneering, the inner hollow said, "**If Ichigo's soul is 100% pure reishi instead of a combination with base reishi, then what would happen if he was to mix his reiryoku with mine, such as when he puts his mask on?**"

Urahara's eyes widened in realization as several things became clear to him.

"**Yes, I can see you're putting things together. Ichigo's soul is now completely composed of the pure reishi from the Final Getsuga Tensho, making him a nearly all powerful being," **explained the inner hollow**. "Now imagine if all of that pure reishi was combined with all of my corrupt reishi, imagine the force that would be unleashed as two things that were never meant to touch, mixed**," said the inner hollow ominously.

As Urahara and Yoruichi registered this new information they both paled at the very idea of something like that being possible. Clearing his throat, Urahara asked in a calm voice, "Why don't you tell Ichigo this yourself,".

Snorting in derision, the hollow said, "**That arrogant bastard never listens to me. He'd probably think it was a trick and use it anyway, blowing up the world in the process.**"

"Not without good reason," snapped Yoruichi.

Cackling again, the hollow said, "**Half the advice I give him is advice meant to ensure he, and thus myself, survives.**"

"Like what?" challenged Yoruichi fiercely, the hate clear in her eyes.

"**Like how to use his sword. That idiot only ever swung it around like a stick before I showed him the proper way to handle Zangetsu**," snapped the hollow back at her.

Before Yoruichi could respond with another biting remark, Urahara put his hand on her shoulder as a clear sign for her to stop before saying, " Is that it."

The inner hollow scoffed and said, "**Hardly, I also came here to ask you a question.**"

When the inner hollow didn't elaborate Yoruichi asked in a hard voice, "Well then, what is it?".

Letting out another bone chilling laugh the inner hollow asked, "**Are you afraid of me soul reapers?**".

Caught completely by surprise, both Yoruichi and Urahara took several moments to answer and when they did their answers only caused the hollow's grin to grow until it looked truly demonic.

"We do not fear you hollow," said Urahara coldly.

"**That's not what your eyes say. Its as clear as day that you've been thinking of ways to overcome me if I attack. And if I didn't know better, I'd say you were afraid I would win**," cackled the inner hollow madly. "**Let me ask you something else**," he said refocusing. "**What did both Aizen and Cadia have in common.**"

"They were both powerful leaders who sought the destruction of the Soul Society," said Yoruichi suspiciously.

"They were both alone in some way or another," said Urahara beginning to realize what the inner hollow was getting at.

"**Correct scientist. Now before I go, think on this. What would happen if Ichigo's friends and family grew to fear and hate him?**" said inner hollow evilly.

Instead of answering, Urahara just looked at the inner hollow with a blank expression and said, "I know how you were born and what I want to know is why you act so evil?".

"**EVIL! Who gives you the right to decide who's good and who's evil**," sneered the inner hollow as he began to fade.

"No one, good and evil is something you decide for yourself. The question you'll need to ask yourself is if you believe you are good," said Urahara simply, and as the inner hollow disappeared Urahara noticed he had an odd look on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

** Alright, to start, I apologize for the hiatus, but hopefully I will be able to dedicate more time to writing this story now that I'm in college. I read the comments and I'm surprised so many people liked it. Most of the time I hear people say they hate godlike stories, but I guess everyone has their own taste in stories. But just let me say, this story will be godlike like no other, I plan to give a whole new meaning to the term "godlike." That's not to say that the story will be boring though. When you read this chapter you'll realize I imposed some limits on Ichigo though they are temporary. Just know that I plan to be careful on how I write this so that there ARE challenges Ichigo has to actually work to overcome. **

** Next, I read in the comments that someone wanted Rangiku in Ichigo's harem of sorts. I'm not against the idea itself, but Rangiku would be hard to put in because when compared to the others(which are captain class), I just don't see it working without me forcing it to. It depends on what you want, are you just looking for a lemon, companionship, or just full blown romance. The first two I can work with easily, but romance just wouldn't work. The same would hold true with any other character. If you want me to do something then tell me in the comments or in a PM and I will see how I might be able to make it work. **

** Also, Sui-Fon along with Kurotsuchi are going to be the enemies of sorts for a good while. Soi-Fon will eventually reform, but Kurotsuchi will ALWAYS be evil. That guy just has no redeeming qualities.**

**Chapter 3**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

Many hours after his conversation with Ichigo's inner hollow, Urahara was sitting and drinking tea calmly, but on the inside, he was starting to worry about Ichigo, he had been asleep for 12 hours already and it was getting late. It was at this point that he felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure for the first time that day. Before then he had just assumed it was to high to be sensed, a belief that was further cemented when he discovered Ichigo's soul was composed of 100 percent pure reishi. Urahara dropped his tea and ran for the room Ichigo was in, afraid something had happened to his favorite student. When Urahara got there he was surprised to see Ichigo sitting upright and yawning.

"Oh, hey, Kisuke," said Ichigo casually.

"Uh, Ichigo did anything odd just happen to your spiritual pressure?" asked Urahara uncertainly.

"If your asking why you can feel it now, it's because I sealed away almost all my power to get it down to a level where I can be sensed and can touch stuff without disintegrating it. I'm just lucky that no one touched my bare skin before I got it sealed," said Ichigo, paling slightly at the thought.

"You sealed it. But how? Better yet, when?" asked Urahara, greatly surprised .

"I sealed it when I went to my inner world and talked with Zangetsu," explained Ichigo, still casual.

"You talked to your sword?" asked Urahara, numerous questions seemingly appearing in his mind with every word Ichigo spoke.

"Ya, when I fell unconscious."

Groaning, Urahara thought, "_Uhhhhg. This must be how other people feel when they come to me for answers." "_Alright listen. I want you to start from the beginning and go from there."

Putting on a thoughtful face, Ichigo said, "Alright, I guess I'll start from when I entered my inner world.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Uhhh, where am I and why am I so warm_," thought Ichigo to himself. He didn't know where he was or how he got there to begin with, but he could feel warm sunlight coming down from above and a cool breeze tousling his hair. When he opened his eyes, he was struck speechless at the world around him. Surrounding him was what could only be described as a paradise, there was a massive forest directly in front of him that showed all shades of green as dappled light was filtered through the leaves. Off to his right was a peaceful meadow with flowers of every color sprawled out over gently rolling hills. In the distance he could see towering mountains with snow covered tops and coming down from the mountains he could faintly see a crystal clear river that flowed downwards into the forest in front of him. All of this amazed Ichigo, but when he looked to his left his eyes nearly popped out of his skull when he took in the sight of the magnificent sparkling sea that extended all the way to the horizon and whose waves gently lapped against a sandy beach.

Closing his mouth, which he noticed had been hanging, Ichigo idly began to wonder where he was when a disturbing thought made it's way into his mind. "_Is this heaven_?" thought Ichigo. "_But if that's true then..., wait, what am I thinking, I know what happens when you die_," he thought, shaking his head. "But if I'm not dead, then where am I?" asked Ichigo out loud.

"I'm glad you've at least come to that conclusion," said a voice behind Ichigo.

With reflexes honed over the course of many battles, Ichigo seemed to disappear as he jumped several feet away from the voice and made to draw his sword, only to find it missing. When he looked to his side for his missing sword, he heard the voice say, "Looking for me," immediately causing him to look towards it's source, only to stand in shock as he saw Zangetsu with a slight smile.

"Z-Zangetsu, is that you? I thought you and the hollow were dead," asked Ichigo, amazed at what he was seeing.

"Yes Ichigo, it's me. Both myself and your inner hollow survived the destruction of your inner world," said Zangetsu still smiling slightly.

"B-But how is this possible? I saw my world collapse," asked Ichigo, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"It's all because of you and the hogyoku, but before I get into that, I have something that I've been needing to tell you for a long time," said Zangetsu, his smile fading.

Noticing his seriousness, Ichigo swallowed his questions for the moment and instead asked, "What do you need to tell me? Is it about my quincy powers and what happened in my inner world?"

Nodding his head solemnly, Zangetsu said, "Yes, but before I tell you I just want you to know that I don't expect you to forgive me, but please understand I only did what I did to protect you," finished Zangetsu with a slightly desperate look.

Not liking to see Zangetsu so distraught, Ichigo didn't hesitate once in saying fiercely, "I already told you, I don't care what you might have done. I trust you completely and there's nothing you could ever say to change that."

Smiling slightly in gratitude before frowning again, Zangetsu said, "As you already know, you possess the powers of a quincy, but you neither knew about, nor used them before yesterday. This is because, since your birth I have been blocking them."

Nodding slightly to show he understood, Ichigo asked, "Okay, but why did you block them?"

Lowering his head slightly, Zangetsu said, "When you were still developing within your mother, she was attacked by an experimental hollow and gravely wounded. She would have died, but luckily she was saved just in time by your father. After a short fight between the hollow and your father, the hollow was dealt a fatal blow. What made this hollow unique though, was that, if injured, it could latch onto nearby souls and take control of them after healing. Because of this, when your father dealt that fatal blow to it, the hollow tried to latch onto your mother's soul, but instead of latching on to her soul, it latched onto yours."

"Wait. Are you saying that you blocked my quincy powers because that experimental hollow latched onto my soul; because if that's the case, then the only one to blame is him," said Ichigo firmly.

Seeming to age 100 years, Zangetsu said solemnly, "No, that's not what I mean. I am the one to blame and soon you will see why." Pausing for a moment to gather himself, Zangetsu said, "Before I tell you why, there's something you first need to understand about soul reaper and quincy powers, and that's that they don't mix. Because of this, when I was first forming in your soul, I originally embodied both your quincy and soul reaper powers, but due to the conflict between the two, I was forced to release one. The pain caused by embodying both powers was more than you can possibly imagine. I was constantly at war with myself, the strain all but tore me apart. Eventually, to my eternal shame and regret, I was forced to surrender your soul reaper powers," finished Zangetsu wearily, the remorse he felt bearing down on him.

By now Ichigo had turned slightly pale from hearing Zangetsu's story, but hardening his face, said, "You're right, I am mad"

Flinching, Zangetsu said, "When I resolved myself to tell you this, I never expected you to forgive me. I just wanted you to understand. For what its worth though, I'm sorry."

Ichigo's expression only seemed to harden further at hearing those words. "You can keep your apology because I don't want it," he said through narrowed eyes.

If it was possible, Zangetsu seemed to enter an even deeper state of depression as he said, "I understand. Just know that I will do anything within my power to earn your forgiveness."

"NO, I don't want your apology because you don't have anything to apologize for!" shouted Ichigo angrily.

"What?" asked Zangetsu, completely surprised for the first time in his life.

"I said that you can keep your apology, because as far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to apologize for," said Ichigo fiercely.

"No, what I did is unforgivable. I threw away your soul reaper powers, part of your heritage. Something like that can't forgiven. " said Zangetsu insistently , shaking his head in denial to what Ichigo had said.

"Ya, and somehow I still have them. There wasn't anything else you could have done, so stop trying to apologize for something that you had no control over," responded Ichigo angrily.

"I could have weathered the pain," snapped Zangetsu, trying desperately to get Ichigo to understand the severity of his actions.

"I'd rather have no powers at all than ever force you to suffer through something like that," fired back Ichigo passionately.

Zangetsu just stopped at that point, his resort dying in his throat. Speaking softly, he said, "Thank you Ichigo. I'm sure every zanpakuto spirit tells their master this, but I don't believe any have as much reason as I do now. I truly am very luck to have a master like you to carry me into battle."

His expression softening, Ichigo said, "You don't have anything to thank me for. I just did what any half decent person would do. And also, I'm not your master, I'm your partner, just as you are mine, hell, if the hollow would stop trying to "dethrone" me, then I would be happy to call him a comrade too."

Smiling slightly, Zangetsu said, "Well regardless of whether you think you deserve my thanks or not, you have it none the less, and I would be happy to be your partner."

Smirking, Ichigo said, "Great, but I do have a few questions."

"I'd be very surprised if you didn't," said Zangetsu, slightly amused.

"Alright, well, if you cast off my soul reaper powers, then how do I still have them?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"Hmmm, that deals with what happened after your mother was bitten by the hollow," said Zangetsu contemplatively. "When the hollow bit your mother, it intended to infect her soul, but accidentally infected yours. This you already know. But what you don't know is that at the same time the hollow infected you; I cast off your soul reaper powers. Through some divine intervention or your own uncanny luck, the hollow unknowingly picked up the soul reaper powers and became something akin to an arrancar. There were two differences however, between this hollow and an arrancar. The first being that, instead of losing a part of his mask, he lost all of it, and second, he lacked a hollow hole to signify his loss of heart," explained Zangetsu calmly.

Slowly putting pieces together, Ichigo gasped and said, "My inner hollow!"

Nodding, Zangetsu said, "Yes, your inner hollow is the same as the one that attacked your parents that night."

"That bastard," cursed Ichigo vehemently.

"Yes, but he is the only thing that saved you your soul reaper powers," said Zangetsu.

Grunting unhappily, Ichigo said, "What happened next?"

"When the hollow realized what had happened, he immediately tried to break free from you, but it was to late as his soul had already begun melding with yours as it developed," continued Zangetsu calmly. "This is, in reality, a blessing in disguise. Whereas the ones that call themselves 'vizords,' had their inner hollows implanted after their souls had stabilized, you had yours implanted while your soul was still forming. This allowed the hollow to completely merge with your soul, effectively giving you the potential to learn all hollow techniques, as opposed to only a select few," he finished.

"So does this mean that I can learn how to open garganta and fire ceros and stuff?" asked Ichigo calmly, yet silently hoping for a yes. He had alwaays thought it would be cool if he could fire beams of destruction from his hand or tear open holes in reality.

Nodding once, Zangetsu said, "Yes, you can learn every hollow technique to the same ability as if you yourself were a hollow," then smirking, said "even ceros and garganta," causing Ichigo to redden slightly in embarrassment, was he so easy to read? "There is one drawback though," said Zangetsu, returning to seriousness.

Frowning slightly, Ichigo said bitterly, "I guess it was to much to hope that there wouldn't be some kind of catch, huh."

"You should know by now that anything worth having takes hard work and effort to achieve. This is no different," said Zangetsu sagely.

"Ya, you're right as usual Zangetsu. I guess I was just a little irritated that I've had to fight tooth and nail for everything I have, but I guess it wouldn't be worth anything if it was just given to me, right," said Ichigo, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

Nodding again, Zangetsu simply said, "Good, I'm glad you realize this." Sighing, Zangetsu said, "To continue my previous statement, there is one drawback with learning hollow powers and its that I can't teach you them."

"What do you mean?" asked Ichigo, confused.

"I mean that I don't know them. I'm not a hollow, so I lack the knowledge necessary to teach them to you," said Zangetsu, slightly irritated at his inability to help Ichigo, though he hid it well.

"Well then, how do I learn them?" asked Ichigo, a growing sense of dread taking root in him.

"I think you know the answer," responded Zangetsu calmly.

"My inner hollow," said Ichigo glumly.

"Unfortunately yes,"said Zangetsu, still calm.

"He'll never teach me. The only thing he wants to do is kill me and take control," protested Ichigo desperately.

Zangetsu put on a thoughtful look for a moment before saying, "If you want my advice, I would suggest trying to form a stronger bond with him."

"Bond with him," said Ichigo incredulously. "How would I even do that? He tries to take control at every opportunity. Besides, how do you know if he even wants to a bond with me?" asked Ichigo.

"I'm not your inner hollow, so I can't tell how he would feel about this, but I know that no one likes to be rejected," said Zangetsu calmly.

Ichigo was quiet for a moment when he heard this, contemplating the truth of Zangetsu's words before asking "But isn't he evil? I mean he attacked my parents for crying out loud," he finished, frustrated.

"But you don't know why he attacked. There are millions of hollows in Hueco Mundo, but only a small fraction, driven by the threat of starvation, come to the living world. In fact, most hollows avoid the living world like the plaque due to the presence of soul reapers. How do you know that your inner hollow wasn't forced to do something similar? Would you really condemn him for just trying to survive?" questioned Zangetsu

Stunned by Zangetsu's speech, Ichigo was speechless for a moment before saying, "No, I could never condemn someone for just trying to survive, not even him. Alright Zangetsu, I'll try to bond with him."

Smiling, Zangetsu said, "That's all I ask."

They stood in awkward silence for several moments that neither seemed willing to break until Ichigo asked, "Sooooo, where are we anyway?"

Looking slightly surprised, Zangetsu said, "You haven't guessed."

"Uhhhh, Soul Society," guessed Ichigo poorly.

Sweat dropping, Zangetsu said, "No, not quite. Were in your inner world."

"What!" exclaimed Ichigo. "This can't my inner world. My inner world is supposed to be filled with skyscrapers, not trees and mountains and stuff," he said, shaking his head in denial.

"Your last inner world was destroyed though, remember," pointed out Zangetsu. "This world was formed in its place by the hogyoku and your self," he said gesturing to the paradise around them.

"What do you mean the hogyoku helped make this world?" asked Ichigo, still slightly shocked at hearing that this paradise was his new inner world.

"I mean exactly that. After Aizen was sealed and you fell unconscious, something odd happened. The hogyoku, which you had been holding in your hand, disappeared in a flash of light and assimilated with your soul. At the ti-" explained Zangetsu before being cut off by Ichigo.

"Alright, wait, wait, wait. The hogyoku merged with my soul. How is that even possible? I thought Aizen was it's master?" asked Ichigo, shaking his head to stop Zangetsu form continuing as he tried to comprehend what he was being told.

"I have a suspicion, but I'd prefer to keep it to myself until I learn more. Will that satisfy you?" asked Zangetsu patiently.

"Ya, I guess I can wait to find out," said Ichigo, slightly put out that he had to wait.

"Good. Now to continue my previous statement, neither you, nor myself noticed when the hogyoku merged with you, most likely due to the collapse of your inner world being a more pressing matter. As such, when this new world came and replaced your previous one, I was just as surprised as you," resumed Zangetsu as if he had never been interrupted.

"Alright, this is interesting an all, but how does this explain _why_ my inner world is the way it is?" asked Ichigo, slightly impatient.

"Be patient and I'll tell you. Of all your qualities, your impatience is the one most likely to get you killed," said Zangetsu reproachfully, causing Ichigo to look to the side, slightly ashamed of himself for his impatience.

Seeing that Ichigo had been properly admonished, Zangetsu continued, "Skipping ahead to when you jumped from the building and into Final Getsuga Tensho's reiryoku," at this point Zangetsu sent a light glare at Ichigo, only to be met with Ichigo's own steadfast stare that showed his lack of remorse at his actions. Shaking his head in annoyance, Zangetsu said, "I guess you wouldn't be you if you didn't heedlessly rush into danger without thinking it through." Then continuing as before, said, "After you managed to absorb rampant reiryoku of the Final Getsuga Tensho, your soul seemed little more than a roughly humanoid shape that was quickly disintegrating. Right before your soul would have been completely destroyed though, it disappeared and a purple flash flared brightly in the sky for just a moment before the hollow and myself fell into unconsciousness."

"Wow," said Ichigo quietly, surprised that he had actually managed to survive.

"If I had to wager a guess as to what happened thereafter, I would say that right before you fell unconscious, your most heartfelt wish was for us to survive and the hogyoku made it so by adapting your body so it could handle the power of the Final Getsuga Tensho," said Zangetsu, a contemplative look on his face.

"That makes sense. I remember the last thing I felt before I fell unconscious was an overwhelming desire to somehow have saved you two," said Ichigo thoughtfully, then remembering something that unnerved him greatly, asked, "Uh, does this mean that I'm going to have the hogyoku sticking out my chest and have butterfly wings coming out my back, cus I'll be honest, I'm really hoping I don't?"

Slightly amused, Zangetsu said, "No, as soon the hogyoku changed your body, it fell apart."

"What!" said Ichigo, shocked. "I thought the hogyoku was indestructible?"

"It appears not. Immediately after the purple flash, but before I fell unconscious, I saw the hogyoku crack and shatter," said Zangetsu.

"Wow," said Ichigo quietly to himself. Looking back at Zangetsu, he said, "Well its probably for the best, right. I mean, I can't imagine what would happen if I walked into Soul Society with butterfly wings coming out my back. Renji would never let me live it down and besides, at least now Kisuke doesn't have to worry about destroying it."

Refocusing, Ichigo asked, "Alright, last question, how does this affect me now and is there anyway to return to how I was before?".

"Ah yes, the big question, "how does this affect me now." To tell you the truth though, I'm not entirely sure myself." At Ichigo's disgruntled look, he continued, "That is not to say though, that I know nothing. The Final Getsuga Tensho works by changing all the reiryoku in your body into what you might call 'pure reiryoku.' By doing this you gain nigh unlimited power, but only temporarily as no normal soul could ever hope to contain that much power and survive."

Seeing that Ichigo understood thus far, Zangetsu continued, "I believe the hogyoku saved you by changing the composition of your soul so that it could handle the raw power of the Final Getsuga Tensho, thus your soul being composed of pure reishi. There are drawbacks however, your power is now so great that no one on a lesser level can comprehend it. Meaning that you can no longer be sensed by regular soul reapers. Alongside this, your spiritual pressure can no longer tolerate anything less than itself. Essentially this means that anything coming into contact with your spiritual pressure will disintegrate," he finished.

"And the teleportation?" asked Ichigo calmly; keeping a straight face despite hearing that he could no longer interact with the world without turning it to dust.

"As the scientist said, I believe it has to do with the amount of pure reishi contained within your soul. And as your entire soul is composed of pure reishi, I would not be surprised if you discovered further powers beyond teleportation as you develop your new skills," explained Zangetsu.

"What other powers will I develop?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"As I said before, I'm not entirely sure, but it is possible you could develop a power similar to your friend Orihime's as it was formed due to the high amount of pure reishi in her soul. Unfortunately, that's all I know " answered Zangetsu.

Thinking on the information he had just learned for a moment, Ichigo said, "It's neat to be able to teleport an all, but I think I'd like to go back to how I was before. How do I do that?"

Grimacing slightly, Zangetsu said, "Unfortunately, I don't believe you can."

"WHAT!" shouted Ichigo, horrified at the thought that he was stuck like this. "I've got to be able to change back. How am I supposed to live if I can't touch anything?" he asked, a desperate look in his eyes.

"Calm down, its not as bad as you think. Before it was destroyed, it seems the hogyoku placed several seals on your power. From what I can feel now, you've got about .500 percent of power at your disposal, which also seems to be the border for transcendence. The rest of your power has been sealed away into three seals, the first seal when unlocked, will give you about 10 percent of your total power, the second will give you 50 and the last seal will release the rest to you," explained Zangetsu, trying to calm the frantic teen.

Calming down when he found he wasn't completely screwed, Ichigo asked, "How do I undo the seals?" He doubted he would ever need more power than what he already had, but you could never be to sure.

"From what I've managed to learn about them, the seals seem to be set to unlock, but I don't know how or when," said Zangetsu, perplexed at the seals odd workings.

"So that means that I won't be able to access the power if I need it, right?" asked Ichigo, wanting to make sure that he understood everything.

"Yes, but you severely underestimate your own power if you believe you will run into many occasions where what you already possess proves to be insufficient," said Zangetsu.

"That wasn't what I meant. I just wanted to make sure I had all the facts straight," said Ichigo.

Staring up t the sky for a moment, Zangetsu said, "You will wake soon. Is there anything else you require of me?"

Thinking quickly, Ichigo said, "Ya, would it be possible for you to seal away more of my power. I don't want to walk into the soul society and have everyone immediately knocked unconscious ?"

Nodding, Zangetsu said, "I can, but it would only be temporary and I would only be able to seal away so much."

"How long would I have?" asked Ichigo.

"I would wager that I could keep it sealed for a week, maybe a little more, but no more than that," guessed Zangetsu. "During that time, you will need to learn how to suppress your power so that you can interact with the world freely."

Feeling himself beginning to regain consciousness, Ichigo said, "Then do it. It wouldn't be good if people couldn't stand being next to me."

_END FLASHBACK_

As Ichigo disappeared into consciousness, Zangetsu immediately looked to the side and said, "Why didn't you confront him?"

Coming out from behind a large stone, the hollow said, "**Psh. And why should I. Hes a big boy now, he'll figure it out."**

"You know that you can no longer take control as you intended. You now have nothing to gain form fighting him," stated Zangetsu, trying to get the hollow to see things logically.

"**Maybe, maybe not, but I know that I will never be his slave**," said the inner hollow in disgust.

Frowning, Zangetsu asked, "Is that how you see me, a slave?"

Sneering, the hollow said, "**You have it easy. He treats you like a partner and actually listens to you, while I on the other hand, get stuck being the horse. Unlike you, he thinks I'm evil.**" He might have imagined it, but Zangetsu could have sworn he sensed just a tad of bitterness in the hollows tone.

His frown lessening slightly, Zangetsu said, "You severely underestimate his character if you think he would turn you into a slave. If you gave him the chance, I'm sure he'd surprise you."

Instead of answering, the hollow sneered once more and vanished in a sonido, likely heading towards the mountains in the distance to blow off some steam.

Sighing, Zangetsu went to his new favorite spot in Ichigo's inner world, a bluff overlooking the ocean that gave a panoramic view of the surrounding world, and looking outward towards the horizon, watched as the sun slowly began to set.

_**Back at the Urahara Shop:**_

"Is there anything else?" asked Urahara, calmly drinking his tea as Ichigo described events that to anyone else would seem too unbelievable to possibly be true. He, on the other hand, had learned to just accept that as long as Ichigo was involved, nothing was impossible.

"Nope, I think that about covers it," said Ichigo casually.

Putting on a thoughtful expression, Urahara said, "You answered most of my question, though there's still one thing I want to know."

"What is it?" asked Ichigo curiously, he though he had answered most of the crucial questions in his explanation.

Looking back at him, Urahara said, "How does this change affect your fighting capability exactly. I notice you don't have a zanpakuto."

"What do y-, hey you're right. Wheres Zangetsu?" asked Ichigo looking over his person for the sword of his soul.

"Well, when was the last time you had it?" asked Urahara, becoming more and more excited at the mysteries presenting themselves to him, just waiting to be solved.

"I think the last time I had it was right before I used the Final Getsuga Tensho," he said thoughtfully. Looking at Urahara expectantly, he continued, "That must be it then. When I used the Final Getsuga Tensho, Zangetsu's physical form disappeared and I was only able to use Mugetsu by forming a sword out of my reiryoku."

Covering the bottom half of his face with his favorite fan, Urahara happily said, "Well, it seems we have our answer then. In order to get your zanpakuto back you have to form it out of your reiryoku."

"What? Are you sure?" asked Ichigo, surprised at his quick conclusion.

Smiling broadly, Urahara said, "Nope."

Growing a tick mark on the side of his head, Ichigo said, "Well then why would you suggest something like that."

"Well it just seems to be common logic. If it worked when you used the Final Getsuga Tensho, then I believe its at least worth a shot here. Regardless of the results, you won't have lost anything," said Urahara happily.

Grumbling about stupid shopkeepers, Ichigo thought for a moment on how he was going to do this before deciding to just follow his instinct. Focusing on the feel and flow of his reiryoku, Ichigo tried to push it out of his body while also trying to _imprint _his soul on to it. Although it took a few attempts, he managed to form his zanpakuto. It just wasn't what he was expecting. He had expected to form Zangetsu in his shikai state as a giant Khyber knife type sword, instead though, he had formed him in his bankai state, and even then, he now held Tensa Zangetsu as he appeared after his training in the Dangai.

"What the...," said Ichigo, thoroughly confused.

"Hmmm, If I recall correctly, your zanpakuto didn't look like that the last I saw," said Urahara helpfully.

Sweat-dropping, Ichigo said, "Wow, thanks. I didn't realize that."

Smiling broadly, Urahara said, "Its no problem at all, I'm always happy to help a person I need."

Grumbling about smart-ass shopkeepers, Ichigo said, "Whats confusing is that this is the form that Tensa Zangetsu took when I finished my training in the Dangai, but before I used the Final Getsuga Tensho. When I tried to form Zangetsu, I expected him to be in his shikai, but I guess this makes about as much sense as anything else at this point."

"Hmmm, Tensa Zangetsu is your bankai, correct?" asked Urahara contemplatively.

"Ya."

"I have an idea, but I'm not certain. When you get time, you should speak to your zanpakuto about it, but now, it's experimentation time," said Urahara with a mad gleam in his eye.

"What?! Fuck you. I'm not going to be your guinea pig for some weird and perverse experiment!" shouted Ichigo angrily.

Putting his hands up in surrender, Urahara said, "Calm down, that's not what I meant. I want you to go down to the training room where we'll see just what exactly happened to you."

_**In the training room:**_

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" asked Ichigo, ready to find out how this change would affect his soul reaper duties.

"Hmmm, well, to start, I just want you to swing your sword as fast and as hard as you can so we can see if you kept the effects of your training in the Dangai," said Urahara

Grunting to show he understood, Ichigo raised his sword and swung it as instructed. To the untrained eye, it seemed as if his sword had seemingly teleported at the same time a massive wave of force emanated from the path the sword would've taken. Spreading outwards from his sword, the wave of misplaced air traveled at near untraceable speeds until it crashed into a series of distant mountains, completely leveling them in one clean slice.

Nodding in affirmation, Ichigo said, "I guess that answers that question."

Grinning again, Urahara said, "Under any other circumstances and if it was anyone else besides yourself, I would be amazed, but after having known you for sometime, I think I'm becoming desensitized to you constantly achieving the impossible."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Ichigo nonchalantly.

Chuckling good naturally, Urahara said, "Alright, seeing as you were able generate that wave of force to begin with means you also kept your speed. Moving on though, I want to test that armor like shell covering your body."

"This?" asked Ichigo, gesturing down to the shell like covering that surrounded his body. "This armor, I guess you could say, is the same as the one that covered my body when I used the Final Getsuga Tensho. I don't know how sturdy it is though."

"Well, were about to find out," said Urahara before lunging in to slash him across the chest.

As Urahara slashed, Ichigo had to fight the urge to instinctively counter slash with his own sword. When Urahara's sword made contact with the armor though, instead of chipping, cracking, or otherwise being damaged, Urahara's sword just grated against the armor, not causing a single scratch against it.

Raising an eye in light surprise, Urahara said, "I may not be the greatest Zanjutsu master, but I would've thought I could at least cause some form of damage to that armor of yours."

Ichigo wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this, but deciding he had to say something, said "Um, well, maybe you could just try hitting harder."

He immediately regretted saying this when Urahara said, "Great idea. Awaken, Benihime."

"Ahhhh, are you crazy!? You could kill me with that!" shouted Ichigo frantically.

Completely ignoring him, Urahara shouted, "_Nake_, Benihime!"

A glowing, crescent shaped bolt of energy flew quickly at Ichigo and exploded spectacularly, sending massive chucks of dirt and stone flying outward from Ichigo. When the air cleared, Ichigo was left standing there, wide eyed and sweating, but without a scratch on him.

Grinning, Urahara said, "Impressive, to hold up even against Benihime, and without a scratch, too." Looking thoughtful for a second, he continued, "Hold on for a moment, I want to see something."

"What? Are you going to try and use your bankai on me now," said Ichigo angrily, his voice an octave higher than normal. "You could have killed me with that attack!"

"Relax. I wouldn't have attacked you like that if I wasn't already a hundred percent sure you'd be fine. You survived being slashed by Benihime in her sealed state without any damage. There's no way you'd be hurt too badly if attacked by her shikai. I am surprised though that you escaped damage again," said Urahara absently, rummaging through his pockets for something or the other. "Aha," he said, taking out the same device he used to measure Ichigo's pure reishi. "Alright, just hold still. I'm going to try and measure the spiritual composition of that armor of yours. If what I believe is correct then it'll take a lot more than Benihime to damage that armor."

Pressing a few buttons on it, Urahara stepped up and scanned the armor covering Ichigo's chest. Moments later he grinned and said, "Incredible."

"You seem to be saying that a lot lately," said Ichigo dubiously.

"Well, everything about you is fascinating. You are an anomaly that has never before existed. Rules and laws others believe to be absolute, you tread over as if they were nothing. It's only natural that I, as a scientist, be amazed at the prospect of such a being existing!" exclaimed Urahara passionately.

"Alright, Alright, I get it, I'm a freak of nature. Can we continue now?" said Ichigo, sweat dropping. He wanted to get these tests over with as quickly as possible with as little of Urahara's own brand of extravagance as he could manage.

"Hmpf, you're no fun," said Urahara grumpily. Refocusing, he continued, "I measured your armor's spiritual composition and it's as I thought, that armor is composed entirely of your reiryoku in such an amount that it gained a physical form."

"In English, please," said Ichigo, having no clue what the scientist was talking about.

Thinking for a moment, Urahara said,"Hmmm, the nearest thing I could compare it to is Kempachi's own spiritual armor."

"What? Do you mean that thing that keeps people from cutting his skin if there spiritual energy isn't focused enough?" asked Ichigo.

"Exactly that. Do you know how he does it?" asked Urahara in turn.

"I have a vague idea. I think it has something to do with coating your body in your reiryoku," replied Ichigo thoughtfully.

"Correct. By unconsciously coating his body in an even amount of reiryoku, an invisible armor of sorts forms around Kempachi. This armor disperses energy throughout itself so that, if attacked, it is weakened in all areas instead of just one. This means that, when attacked, you would have to overpower all the reiryoku in the technique, as opposed to just the reiryoku in one spot, to cause damage" explained Urahara.

"Wow, I wish I knew that when I was fighting the Espada," said Ichigo, unconsciously rubbing the center of his chest. A thought suddenly coming to him, Ichigo asked, "Do all the captains do this?"

"As a matter of fact, no. The armor itself is extremely useful, but it has its drawbacks. One being, the strength of the armor is directly proportional to the amount of reiryoku put into it and, for most, will not regenerate when damage is dealt. Alongside that, by doing this you throw away any chance of stealth as any person with even a shred of spiritual sense will be able to sense you like a beacon" answered Urahara.

"That's not much of a reason to not use it though. You would just have to be careful when you do that you won't have to hide any," pressed Ichigo, now genuinely curious as to why this technique wasn't used more often.

"Hmm, how to get you to understand?" mused Urahara to himself. "Alright, envision this, when a soul reaper touches a zanpakuto, their reiryoku begins to flow through the zanpakuto as well themselves. As such, when they attack something, the reiryoku that flows through the blade effectively _sharpens_ it. When the blade then meets something like Kempachi's armor, a contest of sorts occurs where if the reiryoku flowing through the zanpakuto isn't greater than the total amount of reiryoku in the armor, no damage will be dealt to the defender. This is the advantage of the armor, as it would take a greater amount of reiryoku than whats in the armor to deal any damage and when you're a captain, that can prove difficult fo rall but the best. On the other hand though, when the armor is attacked and the blow lands, even if the the armor stops the attack, damage is dealt to the armor that doesn't regenerate, while the zanpakuto and soul reaper retain all of their reiryoku. Alongside that, it takes constant concentration to maintain and for it to be of any practical use, needs a massive amount of reiryoku that is beyond most soul reapers.

"Wait, does that mean that Kempachi is concentrating on maintaining that armor while he battles?" asked Ichigo dubiously.

"No. Remember when I said it doesn't regenerate for most. Well, you and Kempachi are the exceptions. When someone has exceptionally massive reserves of reiryoku that outstrips even most captains, their reiryoku naturally flows out of them and coats their body in itself. This gives those people the armor automatically and when the armor is damaged, it regenerates by itself," explained Urahara.

"Huh, what do you know. I guess that explains why he's so strong. It's next to impossible for anyone but a captain to hurt him," said Ichigo.

"Yep and you've got the same ability now, except yours seems to be much more advanced," quipped Urahara happily.

"How so?" asked Ichigo, refocusing on the task at hand.

"Unlike Kempachi, your reiryoku reserves have reached levels of such magnitude that it now physically manifests itself in the form of this armor when it expels itself through your pores. Also, I probably don't need to mention this, but this is also supposed to be impossible," explained Urahara happily.

"Wait, my pores? I thought you said reiryoku was expelled through the wrists, an also, I'm not expelling any reiryoku right now." said Ichigo, confused at Urahara's seemingly contradictory statement.

"Oh, I'm surprised you were actually listening when I said that," teased Urahara. "To explain though, reiryoku can only be _channeled_ through the wrists unless intense training is undertaken to channel it from anywhere on your body. Alongside that, though the wrists are the major point of expulsion for reiryoku, it can leak out of your pours when not properly controlled. This is what makes you so easy to sense, with the massive reserves of reiryoku and you've always had along with your series lack of control, you're a literal beacon to anyone with a shred of spiritual sense."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, except one thing, Zangetsu sealed like 99 percent of my power so shouldn't that mean this armor should have dispersed?" asked Ichigo irritated.

"Correct, but as your reiryoku has become physical and thus has mass, you would have to either purposely withdraw it back into yourself or have someone destroy it, which, as I hope you've seen, I can't do," answered Urahara.

"Sooo, withdraw it then?" asked Ichigo, double checking.

"That would be best," replied Urahara amused.

"_Okay, how should I do this. Kisuke said that the armor was expelled reiryoku made solid, so I guess I should try and draw it in like I did with the Final Getsuga Tensho's reiryoku," _thought Ichigo.

Focusing, he concentrated on how he felt when he absorbed the power from his inner world and tried applying that knowledge to absorbing the armor surrounding his body. Stretching his senses out, he felt his reiryoku swirling around his body like a torrent. "_Jeez, is this what everyone sees when they sense me. It's no wonder hollows always find me, I'm a literal beacon_," he thought. Grasping the rampant energy, Ichigo slowly began drawing it all back inside himself for Zangetsu to seal away. He didn't know how long he spent just standing there, but when he opened his eyes he saw that he had succeeded. His chest was now bare with the remnants of his shihakusho laying in tatters around his waist.

"Congratulations Ichigo, you managed to successfully withdraw the excess reiryoku surrounding your body and in doing so, miraculously I might add, suppress your own spiritual pressure and it only took you just over an hour to do it," said Urahara mockingly.

"Shut up, it's not my fault I've never been good at suppressing or detecting reiryoku. I'm just happy I managed it at all." said Ichigo irately.

"Yes, yes. Now it's getting late and we'll have to wrap up soon, so to wrap up, I want to try and sense my reiryoku now that you have yours suppressed and it's no longer clouding your vision," said Urahara.

"Fine," said Ichigo simply, eager to get home and sort through everything that had happened to him. Closing his eyes, he stretched his senses outward and was amazed at what he "saw." "Wow! I can see everything," said Ichigo amazed.

Raising his eyebrow at yet another oddity, Urahara said, "What do you mean you can see everything?" He had figured that Ichigo would be able to sense his own reiryoku and if he was lucky, Yoruichi's and Isshin's seeing as they both had the largest reserves in the town, but this didn't seem to be what Ichigo was sensing.

"I mean I can see everything around me, you, that rock to your left, even those ants about about 50 feet away," explained Ichigo as he pointed out all the things he could see.

"Hmm, under normal circumstances I would say your sensing skills rival and easily surpass the greatest sensors to ever exist, but that doesn't seem to be it. Everything in the human world has something resembling a soul including inanimate objects like water and stones, but these objects are impossible to sense because they don't give off any reiryoku like a living soul does. This is why Kanome never came to the human world, he wouldn't be able to sense his surroundings like he could do in the Soul Society," said Urahara, honestly puzzled at what this new ability could be.

"Well, right now the world to me is colorless, but I can see everything above, below, and around me. I can even see behind things to sense beyond them, like Tessai up in the store," said Ichigo, trying to give as much information on this new, and might he say "awesome," ability.

"What? You can sense Tessai?" asked Urahara curiously.

"Ya, he's sweeping the floors in the tea room" answered Ichigo.

"Hmm, well that is interesting. When I built this room, I installed several machines to suppress and hide reiryoku while in this room to keep it from being sensed by the outside. Likewise this would also keep you from sensing things on the outside by normal means and yet, you can sense Tessai in the store above," said Urahara, curious at such a development. He knew he should be shocked or, at the very least, surprised at all this, but he honestly couldn't bring himself to be surprised at anything relating to Ichigo. Compared to teleportation and near limitless power, this seemed quite tame when compared.

"Wait, so does this mean I can essentially walk around blind and be fine?" asked Ichigo.

"I don't know, you tell me. How well can you sense the things in the area surrounding you?" answered Urahara, needing more information on this odd sensing ability.

"I can see everything just as clearly as I can with my eyes open, except it's all colorless with everything seeming transparent to show what's behind it, like a radar. Also, everything except for you has a very defined, glowing blue aura around it, while you have a more fiery aura around you. Actually, now that I think about it, only living things have that fiery aura, while everything else just has a light, refined aura outlining it," explained Ichigo as best he could.

"Ok, I think I know what you're seeing. You seem to be able to sense the soul that is present in everything. Most soul reapers sense the reiryoku that all living things give off to some degree. Those trained however, are able to suppress the reiryoku they naturally emit to effectively make themselves invisible to others. You, on the other hand, sense both the soul and the reiryoku. And seeing as it's impossible to hide a soul, you can effectively sense everything, even if it's hidden to other soul reapers.," said Urahara, thinking about all the possible applications of such an ability.

"I must admit, Ichigo, I'm curious to extents of your sensing ability, so before you go, I want to perfrm a few quick tests, alright?" said Urahara, looking back at Ichigo to see him groaning.

"Uhh, alright. After this I'm going home and not moving for the next eight hours"

"Great, now hold on while I get something and don't try to sense what I'm getting or you'll ruin the experiment," said Urahara as he went back up to the shop only to return a few moments later with two things hidden beneath his coat.

"Alright, first, I want you to put on this blind fold, can't have you peaking now can we" said Urahara with a grin to show his excitement at the upcoming test.

Ichigo didn't bother verifying the man's childish grin with a response and simply tied the blindfold around his head to cover his eyes.

"Great now I want you to tell me what you sense in me particularly," said Urahara.

Ichigo stretched out his senses once again and focused on the shopkeeper. "I see you clearly. You have that same fiery aura I talked about already surrounding you and you have some kind of cloak hidden underneath your coat," said Ichigo carefully as he relayed is observations to the man.

"Great, now how bout now?" said Urahara.

"I noticed that the aura surrounding you settled down nearly completely. It's now almost perfectly refined around you with just the occasional flicker, like a fire," responded Ichigo quickly.

"Hm, okay, how bout now?" asked Urahara once again.

"I see that you put on that cloak you had. Your aura, which I presume to be your expelled reiryoku, is now completely suppressed and now I can see only your soul which I see as a light blue, glowing aura around your body, just like inanimate objects," finished Ichigo.

"Alright, you can take off the blindfold off now," said Urahara.

Taking the blindfold off, Ichigo asked, "Alright, now what did this prove?"

"It proved that I was right. You can sense both the soul and expelled reiryoku if an object or person. Alongside this, you're able to sense through objects to look behind them, essentially giving you x-ray vision. You were even able to sense my reiryoku suppressing cloak, which I designed specifically to be impossible to sense by mixing in seki-seki stone. This along with you being impossible to sense, you'd be the ultimate assassin." answered Urahara.

"I feel like I should be shocked, but a this point, I just can't bring myself to it," said Ichigo blandly.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one. After you've done the impossible several times before, it all starts to get rather boring" said Urahara, grinning.

"So, is that it, can I go now?" asked Ichigo. He'd gotten most of his questions answered, so he was perfectly content to just go home and go to sleep.

"In a minute, before you go I want you to try and sense something composed entirely of reishi," said Urahara as he unsheathed his zanpakuto.

"Alright," said Ichigo, closing his eyes.

Spreading his senses out for hopefully the last time today, Ichigo "looked" at Urahara's zanpakuto.

"Whoa, that's different," said Ichigo, surprised.

"What's different," asked Urahara, slightly irked that Ichigo couldn't be bothered to be a bit more descriptive in his sentences.

"I can see it just like everything else, except that it's in color"

"That makes sense. The reishi that makes up objects in the Soul Society affects the qualities and properties it has, so it's no surprise that you could see my swords color," surmised Urahara thoughtfully.

"Alright, can I go now?" asked Ichigo for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Yes, but come here again tomorrow,we've go tot decide what were going to do now that you've essentially become a god," said Urahara dramatically.

"Shut up, I'm not a god and I don't want to be," said Ichigo hotly.

"Denial is the first step to acceptance, Ichigo," quipped Urahara.

Rather than dignifying his teachers stupid antics with a comment, Ichigo turned around with a muttered "good night" and walked towards the ladder leading up toward the store.

"Uh, before you go Ichigo," began Urahara.

"Ug, what is it now old man, I'm tired," said Ichigo as he turned around to face Urahara only to be met with his serious face.

"I just wanted you to know that despite all the changes you've gone through, you're friends and family will still support you," he said, unusually serious.

"Uh, ya, thanks Kisuke," responded Ichigo, unsure of how to respond. He was touched that Urahara wouldn't leave him to deal with this by himself, no doubt, he was just couldn't find the right words to express his gratitude.

"No problem," answered Urahara with a grin that seemed more genuine. :I just wanted you to know. Good night, Ichigo."

"Night," said Ichigo,still a bit lost as he finished climbing the ladder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everybody, I'm Astromormy and I'm back with another chapter. I'm trying to make up for the long hiatus with a steady flow of updates until I get around a 100k words. Just some things I want to point out. Any criticism is accepted as long as it's constructive and any ideas people might have are equally accepted. I have the destination of where I want this story to go planned, but only a rough path on how to get there, so if you have any ideas for an OC story arc, then tell me about it through the comments or PM me. I plan to do the Quincy war, but it won't start for two years or so and that means I've got plenty of time to put in a few OC story arcs. Also, I'm going to set up a poll to find out if I should have Ichigo sleep with more woman besides the ones on his harem. These woman will essentially just be one night stands and I won't do it with all characters, just a few. Even if I decide to do this, I won't have any lemons for a good while yet, so don't expect any. Also, if I do this, the story won't just turn into a smut story, it will still be primarily driven by the plot.**

**My thanks also goes out to Lynansidhe who sent me a PM detailing several grammatical errors in chapter 3. With his help, I fixed almost a hundred individual errors, mostly centering around contraction misuse. This is what comments are for, if you see any problem in my story, I can't fix it if you don't tell me and I will most likely keep making that mistake unless you tell me about it. Even if you're not reporting errors, comment, that's where I get my motivation. I started working on this chapter immediately upon reading the first comment my story got after being updated, which was approximately 20 or so minutes previous. So if you want me to write faster, comment, comment, comment.**

**Chapter 4**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

When Ichigo arrived home, he was immediately met with his dad's foot in his face.

"HA, HA, YOU LET YOUR GUA- AHHHH,"screamed Isshin as Ichigo simply ducked and allowed his father to continue flying out the door.

"I'm not in the mood old man," he said as shut and locked door.

"_That ought to keep him out of my hair for a few minutes at least,"_ thought Ichigo as walked up the stairs.

As Ichigo left the bathroom, ready to go to bed, Isshin popped back up in front of Ichigo.

"Ha, you thought you could lock me out, but you failed to remember the key under the mat" exclaimed Isshin.

"Damn, I forgot about that key. Next time I'll have to remember," cursed Ichigo to himself.

Isshin jumped back and sobbed, "You didn't even try to deny it."

Then flinging himself at a nearby poster, Isshin shouted, "MASAKI, OUR SON IS SO MEAN TO ME."

"SHUT UP, YOU OLD GOAT. YOU'LL WAKE THE GIRLS" shouted Ichigo just as loudly.

"That statement'd be more realistic if you were talking about the neighbor's kids," said Karin as she and her sister, Yuzu, walked out their shared room.

"What are you two still doing up at this hour, it's past midnight and don't you have to work the clinic tomorrow, Dad?" she asked.

"Yes, but I had to stay up and wait for your delinquent brother to get home because he was out all night. Why were you out so late, Ichigo. Could it be that you've finally found a girlfriend," said Isshin grinning like mad, knowing EXACTLY what was going to happen.

"What? You have a girlfriend now, Ichigo?" asked Yuzu, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"WHAT? No, I don't have a girlfriend." said Ichigo indignantly.

"Oh, when do we get to meet her, Ichigo? Is she nice? Is she pretty? Does she like to cook?" asked Yuzu in rapid succession, all traces of sleep gone from her face.

"I've already told you; I don't have a girlfriend" said Ichigo, trying to win what he knew was a losing battle. "Tell them the truth, Dad. Tell them that I don't have a girlfriend," pleaded Ichigo.

"Oh, I don't know Ichigo. Everything adds up, you staying out late, being so secretive. Are you sure you're not hiding something from us, Ichigo?" said Isshin with a cheshire grin.

If looks could kill, Isshin's entire family line would have spontaneously combusted from the look Ichigo was giving him.

"Now don't give me that look. I don't know why you're being so defensive for. Wait, could be that you don't have a girlfriend, but a b-"

"Finish that sentence and I tell Karin what happened to her goldfish," threatened Ichigo menacingly.

Squinting in suspicion, Isshin said, "You wouldn't dare."

"What are you two talking about. Bubbles died of old age while I was at school, right?" said Karin, staring angrily at Isshin.

"Um, well, you see, Uhhhhh, NO MORE QUESTIONS! It's well past your bedtime. So go on, shoo, back to bed," stammered Isshin as he shepherded both Yuzu and Karin back to their room.

"But I still wanna find out about Ichigo's girlfriend," whined Yuzu.

"If I find out you killed Bub-" threatened Karin.

Isshin quickly shut the door to starve off what he knew was going to be a disaster.

Turning back around, Isshin looked up into Ichigo's triumphant face.

"You may have won the battle, but not the war. One day you'll come home with a girl and I'll be waiting. It might not be today; it might not be tomorrow, but when it comes..." proclaimed Isshin, chuckling evilly at the thought.

Ichigo sweat dropped at his dad's antics before saying, "Yeah, sure. Is there anything you actually want."

Recomposing himself, Isshin said, "Hm, I noticed you got that armor off. What was up with it?"

Yawning, Ichigo said, "It was my projected reiryoku. All I had to do was reabsorb it using quincy powers."

Hearing that, Isshin immediately paled, expecting anything but what he had heard. "Wha-What? How do you know about your quincy powers?"

Ichigo had expected his dad to be surprised, but not to this degree. Frowning, he said, "I found out from the old man Zangetsu. Turns out he's the manifestation of my quincy powers."

"I believe you, it's just that, I never expected you to find out like that. I planned to tell you the truth the same time I told you about my past, but I guess that doesn't matter now does it," said Isshin chuckling nervously.

"Yeah, I guess not, but that does beg the question. How did Mom die against Grand Fisher if she was a quincy?" asked Ichigo.

Sighing, Isshin said, "That's a story for another time. I'll tell you when you're ready. Now lets get to bed. It's already going on one in the morning."

"Alright, Dad. I'll see you in the morning."

_**In the Morning:**_

__Ichigo woke up in time to catch his dad as flew towards him. Grabbing his dad's foot, Ichigo proceeded to throw his dad out the window.

"CAN'T YOU EVER GROW UP YOU OLD GOAT," shouted Ichigo angrily.

After the ensuring morning chaos had died down and the twins had gone to school, Ichigo sat at the table with his dad, neither interrupting the silence until Isshin asked.

"What do you plan to do now? Are you still going to be a soul reaper or are you going to try and forge a new path?"

Sighing, Ichigo said, "Honestly, I don't know. I know I'm going to have to confront the Court Guard Squads eventually and tell them what happened since I'm sure no one here told them anything."

"That's right. With you still unconscious, we didn't know everything that needed to be said, so we put off telling them anything except that you'd 'sacrificed' your powers to defeat Aizen till you woke up. If you want my advice though, I'd say deal with the Court Guard Squads as soon as possible, today even if possible, just to get it out of the way" answered Isshin calmly.

"Well, what do you think I should do after that now that I've changed?" asked Ichigo, contemplating his new existence.

Thinking for a moment, Isshin said, "If it was me, I'd try and return to what made me happy."

"Well, I was happy being a soul reaper." responded Ichigo.

"Then there's your answer. If there's nothing stopping you, then I'd be happy to see you become a soul reaper again."

"Alright then, I'll go to the Soul Society today and set things straight," said Ichigo, convinced.

Grinning again, Isshin said, "Great, and when you get this whole mess with the Soul Society situated, we can do our rounds together. Now that I'm back in the game, I can continue my duties as a soul reaper. Just imagine it, father and son, fighting hollows and protecting humans. We'll finally be bonding."

"Yep, and just like that, the moments over. I'm going to Urahara's. He wanted to see me," said Ichigo as he rose from the table.

Isshin flung himself at the poster of his wife and sobbed, "MASAKI, OUR SON DOESN'T WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH ME."

Sighing at his dad's idiocy, Ichigo focused and in an instant was gone.

_**Urahara Shop:**_

"Okay, I may not have wanted all these changes, but this teleportation is kinda of cool," said Ichigo as he appeared on Urahara's doorstep.

Ichigo knocked on the door and waited for Urahara to open the door.

"Ah, Ichigo, good morning. Come on in, I've got some things I need to discuss with you," greeted Urahara.

After they had situated themselves and Tessai had brought them some tea, Urahara asked, "Have you decided what you're going to do about the Soul Society?"

Ichigo set down his own tea and said, "Yeah, I've decided I'll head over there today and tell them I still want to be a soul reaper."

"That's probably a good idea. There's just a few things I need to tell you before you go," said Urahara. "Come down to the training room and I'll set you up a senkaimon." 

"All right."

A few minuets later they were both standing in the training room under the store.

"All right, Ichigo, before you go, I need to warn you," said Urahara, unusually serious.

"Warn me? Warn me about what?" asked Ichigo, confused.

"You already know that your soul is composed completely of pure reishi, correct?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo, not sure where he was going with his questions.

Nodding, Urahara said, "Good. When you were unconscious, your inner hollow appeared before Yoruichi and myself."

This bit of information immediately caught Ichigo's attention.

"WHAT! How did he get out! What did he do!," demanded Ichigo, frantic at what his inner hollow could have done without him there to stop him.

"Nothing like what you're thinking. He came to warn us not to let you use your mask. He said that doing so would mix your reiryoku with his and cause a chain reaction with enough power to end all life as we know it," explained Urahara solemnly.

"What! No, that's impossible. Nothing could cause that much destruction. He had to be lying," denied Ichigo, not wanting to believe such destruction could be possible.

"I don't believe he was, Ichigo. Your inner hollow is extremely powerful and incredibly dangerous, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't risk destroying everything just to try and take over your body. What you don't under stand is just how much power you have. The oin is nothing compared to your power and yet it has enough to warp reality. Just imagine what you could do once you learn to control your power. Following that, it's entirely possible that once you learn to control it, you could destroy the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the Human World, and every other plain of existence in the blink of an eye. The thought of power like that getting out of control terrifies me more than anything else as there is nothing anyone could do to stop you," explained Urahara, trying to impress upon Ichigo the depths of his own power.

Ichigo could only stare in shock as Urahara explained to him just how dangerous the power he wielded was. He knew he had gained power previously thought impossible to have, but it wasn't until right now that he realized just how much he truly had.

"No. It can't be true. I never wanted this. Please, there's got to be something you can do to turn me back to normal, anything," begged Ichigo desperately.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo. Though it may seem at times that I have all the answers, I don't. But it isn't all bad. I told you yesterday that you had the powers of a god at your fingertips and I wasn't lying. Just imagine all the good you can do for the Soul Society once you learn to control those powers. You could bring equality to all 80 districts; you could serve as a deterrent to all future conflicts in the Soul Society; the possibilities are endless," said Urahara, trying to cheer Ichigo up.

"But how do you know I won't slip up? How do you know I won't turn bad and try to hurt the people I love?" pressed Ichigo.

Sighing, Urahara said, "The humans have a saying, some men are born great and others have greatness thrust upon them. You, Ichigo, I believe are both. You were born the first and only perfect hybrid between all four known races with a potential for growth unmatched by any that came before you and when it came time for you to defend the Soul Society, you shouldered a grown man's burden without complaint and faced down an enemy that warriors with many times your own experience couldn't. You were even willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect what was important many times over, and yet you somehow always managed to pull through. Ichigo, if there was anyone I would entrust unlimited power to, it would be you."

Touched by his teacher's words, Ichigo looked at Urahara and said, "And you''ll be there to help when I need it?"

"Every step of the way if need be along with the rest of your friends and family," said Urahara firmly.

Smiling to himself, Ichigo said, "Thanks, Hat-an-Clogs. I've made my decision. I'm going to master my power and protect Soul Society. But I do have a question though."

"Oh, and what is that?" asked Urahara, curious as to what his student could want to know.

"You said that my inner hollow came to tell you this. Why didn't he tell me this himself?"

"Hm, if I remember correctly, he called you an arrogant bastard that never listened to him and that you'd probably use the mask anyway, blowing up the world in the process," said Urahara, grinning at the look of irritation that appeared on Ichigo's face.

"Hmph, yeah, that sounds like him, calling me arrogant, the dick," said Ichigo irritably.

"Yes, well, while we're on the subject of your inner hollow," said Urahara, serious again. "I won't tell you not to trust him. I just want you to know that he isn't to be trifled with. Your hollow isn't like the inner hollows that the other vizords have. Theirs are nothing more than mindless beasts that operate purely on instinct. Yours, on the other hand, has the cunning and intelligence that would give Aizen and myself a run for our money with power that far outstrips our own. So, in your dealings with him, just be.., weary," said Urahara carefully.

Nodding grimly, Ichigo said, "When I spoke with Zangetsu, he said I should try to form a bond with him, and I plan to do so, but I'll take your advice to heart too."

"That's all I ask," said Urahara before grinning again and saying, "Well, we've wasted enough time. I say it's about time we got you to the Soul Society."

"Alright, am I going to be using the same senkaimon gate I used when I first went to the Soul Society?" asked Ichigo.

"No, that thing was an antique. This time, since you're not an enemy invading, we'll be using the official senkaimon gate," answered Urahara.

"Alright, what do I do?" asked Ichigo, ready to be on his way.

"Well, for now you can't open a senkaimon gate. Each soul reaper has to have their unique reiryoku signature keyed in by the Department of Research and Development. This is done by draining a small amount of reiryoku from a soul reapers zanpakuto and inputting it into the senkaimon control module. When you finish with the Court Guard Squads, have them input your reiryoku signature. After that you can open a senkaimon gate by accumulating your reiryoku at the tip of your zanpakuto and twisting it about 90 degrees to the right," explained Urahara.

"So what, are you going to open a gate for me this time?" asked Ichigo.

"Yes, until you get your signature keyed in, I'll do it," he said as he quickly unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into the air, then turning it, opened the glowing gate.

Stepping up to enter the gate, Ichigo was about to step through when Urahara halted him.

"Hold on for just one moment Ichigo, I want you to take this camera and communicator with you so I can monitor you in case anything interesting happens," said Urahara with a deceptive grin on his face.

"Why do I feel like there's more to this than you're telling me?" asked Ichigo, weary.

"That's because there is, now go on, get out of here, the senkaimon won't stay open forever," said Urahara, still grinning as he pushed Ichigo through the gate.

Ichigo stumbled through the gate as it closed. Looking back, he said, "I don't know what it is, but I feel like I'm going to have to punch him when I get back."

Setting off at a brisk pace, Ichigo was glad that the cleaner was still in shambles as he was sure that under any other circumstances, it would just happen to be passing through at the exact time he was going through.

Quickly reaching the end and exiting, Ichigo didn't walk two steps before massive alarms went off throughout the entire Seireitei.

Scowling, Ichigo growled, "Urahara." Immediately grabbing the communicator/camera that Urahara gave him, Ichigo shouted into it over the alarm, "You knew this was going to happen, you bastard! When I get back, I'm going to shove my foot so far up your ass that they'll have to mail it back to me. You hear me, Hat-and-Clogs, your ass's days are numbered!"

_**Back at the Urahara Shop:**_

__Urahara's eyes grew wide in fear after hearing Ichigo's threat to his ass. He immediately wrapped his hands around said anatomy and tried not to think what such an experience would feel like while Yoruichi was laughing her ass of behind him.

_**Back in Soul Society:  
**_

Ichigo crushed the camera/communicator in his hand and threw it to the ground. Then scowling, he began his trek towards squad one captain chambers where he knew the captains would be convening in response to the alarms blaring across the Seireitei. When he arrived at the entrance to the chambers, he tried walking through, but was stopped by a soul reaper appearing in his way.

"Stop, this room is off limits to all but the captains," said the nameless soldier.

"I'm sure they'll make an exception for me. Now, can you move, please?" asked Ichigo, trying to walk past the soul reaper.

"No, I can't allow you to go in there. I was made the guard for this door because I am the only one amongst thousands of others able to protect the captains while they convene and I will perform my sworn duty by stopping you. Surrender now and I may allow you to live," said the nameless soul reaper pompously.

Sweat dropping, Ichigo said, "You have an awfully high opinion of yourself to think ONLY you have the skills needed to play bouncer for the captains and even more so to think you can actually stop anyone that would pose a true threat to the captains. But, ignoring that, answer me this. If you're so strong then why didn't I see you fighting Aizen in the Winter War?" asked Ichigo, doubting the man's strength with every passing moment.

"Blasphemy. I did more than simply fight in the war, for I was one to strike the killing blow against the traitorous Aizen. He begged for his life as he trembled before my might. This is why I have been made to protect the captains. This is also why you will now tremble in fear before me, now that you know the extent of my power," said the soul reaper smugly.

Hearing this, Ichigo couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"You dare laugh in front of the face of your executioner," said the soul reaper angrily.

Swallowing his mirth for the moment and frowned, Ichigo said, "I do dare. I dare to laugh in the face of a bold faced liar taking credit for others work and exaggerating his own skills to the point of lies. I fought Aizen and I can tell you in full honesty that under no circumstance would Aizen ever view you as threat. The only way you could have killed Aizen is if he suffocated from laughing to death," said Ichigo, watching the man's face turn redder with every word he said.

"That's it. I have suffered your presence long enough. Prepare for death heathen!" shouted the man angrily.

Sighing, Ichigo said, "Alright then, show me this unbeatable strength you possess, show me your shikai."

"I haven't yet achieved a shikai release, but I will have no need of one to dispatch one as weak as you" yelled the man, somehow sounding even more stuffed up than before.

Widening his eyes in disbelief, Ichigo said, "Wait! Not only do you claim to have more strength than the captains, but you claim so without even having your shikai. I can't even find the words to describe how pathetic you are."

Forgoing words, the nameless soul reaper drew his asauchi and attacked Ichigo. Not even bothering to move or make any other action to defend himself, Ichigo let the man approach before stretching out and catching the man's blade with only his finger."

"Wow, now I know why Aizen did that, it's awesome," said Ichigo nonchalantly as the man before him began sweating in fear at such a display of strength.

"H-How could you possess such strength to stop my blade with just a finger?" asked the man fearfully.

Frowning, Ichigo said, "I'm not usually this cruel when dealing with idiots, but you had it coming. The question you should be asking yourself isn't about my my own strength, but about your own lack of. Honestly, I'm pretty sure anyone that's worth anything as a soul reaper could have stopped your blade. With your level of strength, I doubt your sword could cut butter. I'm actually surprised you were admitted into the academy, let alone graduated, with a soul and sword as weak as yours. You claim to be stronger than the captains and to have faced down Aizen, and yet you don't even have your shikai, nor do you know the first thing about the responsibilities and duties of a captain. As you are now, I see nothing more than a nameless peon trying to make himself bigger than he actually is."

Struggling to hold in his anger at the insults to his strength, the soul reaper said, "And what about you, what makes you so powerful that you can talk down to me?"

"Me," said Ichigo, gesturing to himself. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki and I'm the one that defeated Aizen, not you."

The man's eyes before him widened in shock and surprise at hearing that hero of the winter war was standing before him.

"W-What, that's impossible. They said that Ichigo Kurosaki was a human turned soul reaper who gained the strength to defeat Aizen when even all the captains combined couldn't. Something like that's impossible. No mere human could ever defeat a captain, much less myself," said the soul reaper derisively.

Frowning again, Ichigo said, "You make it so easy to hate you. In fact, I'm done wasting my time with you. Move now or I'll make you," demanded Ichigo calmly.

"No, I'll nev-," started the man, but before he could finish, Ichigo grabbed the man by his robes and flung him several feet behind him and into a wall.

Glad that all immediate nuisances had been dealt with, Ichigo stepped up to the door and was about to open when it opened for him and Captain Hitsugaya stuck his head out.

"What's going on out here? What's with all the noise?" demanded Hitsugaya.

"Ah, hey, Toshiro, how's it going. I just came here to talk to the old man," greeted Ichigo happily.

"Ichigo, when did you get here?" asked Hitsugaya in surprise.

"A few minutes ago. I tried to come in but was held up by the idiot back there claiming to be the captain's guard," said Ichigo.

"'Captain's guard? I've never heard of such a thing, but I do recognize that soul reaper. He was put on probation for spreading lies throughout the squads and was being punished with cleaning duty. Apparently more severe measures need to be taken if he's still spreading his lies around. What did he say to you?" asked Hitsugaya, curious.

Ichigo recounted his meeting with soul reaper and his ensuring lies to Hitsugaya and even managed to get a slight grin out of him when he told him about the man insulting Ichigo indirectly by insulting humans.

"And that's why he's taking a nap in the wall," said Ichigo simply.

Sighing briefly, Hitsugaya said, "While I don't necessarily agree with your methods, I won't deny that he deserved it, nor that it was effective. Now come in here and report in to the Captain Commander. An alarm in the R/D Department was just set off and I'm sure he'll want to know what you had to do with it.

"Hey, how do you know I had something to do with it?" asked Ichigo, irritated.

"Are you saying that you didn't have anything to do with the alarm going off?" asked Hitsugaya pointedly.

"Well, no, but it's hardly fair for you to immediately assume it was my fault just because it went off as soon as I arrived... in... Soul... Society. Ya, I guess you have a point." conceded Ichigo.

"Wait. The alarm went off as soon as you arrived. I had just figured you broke something on your way here. You're not invading again are you?," said Hitsugaya, surprised and slightly worried at the same time.

"Well, I guess that all depends on you all, now doesn't it. Are you holding anymore of my friends captive and threatening him/her with death by incineration?" asked Ichigo with a growing tick mark.

"I don't think so," said Hitsugaya thoughtfully.

"Then I guess not," said Ichigo ground out, tick mark still growing. "Honestly, does everyone immediately assume the worst when I show up?"

"Yes," said Hitsugaya without a moments hesitation.

Sweat-dropping, Ichigo said, "You didn't even hesitate."

"That's because there was nothing to hesitate about. When ever you show up, something terrible has happened or is about to happen. The first time you arrived in the Soul Society, you threw the Seireitei into war with some of the most dangerous enemies it has ever had to face. So, yes, you appearing is an immediate cause for concern," explained Hitsugaya calmly.

"Glad to know I'm thought so highly of," said Ichigo glumly.

"Try not to think of it like that. Think of yourself as something of an early warning system for the Soul Society. With you, we can prepare ahead of time for whatever disaster follows you here," said Hitsugaya, trying to raise Ichigo's spirits, but only managing to lower them further.

"Wow, thanks for the confidence boost. Goodness knows what I'd do without your constant encouragement," said Ichigo blandly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You're welcome. Now, we should go back inside so you can report in," said Hitsugaya, not seeming to get Ichigo's sarcasm.

When Ichigo entered the room, all eyes turned towards him.

"Hey, Ichigo, nice of you to join us. What's with your hair, you get extensions or something?" asked Captain Kyoraku, yawning in boredom.

"No, it grew over the course of three months," said Ichigo.

"Hm, I'm not even going to question how that's possible seeing as I only saw you last week and your hair was much shorter then, but knowing you, I'm sure were both telling the truth and time just decided to fuck itself," said Kyoraku nonchalantly.

"Well, it's that and other things that I hope to tell you all while I'm here," said Ichigo.

"Quiet! We are in the middle of a crisis. This is no time for meaningless banter," commanded Yamamoto angrily.

"I would hardly call this a crisis sensei. The alarms have been known to trip before and based on that, I highly doubt this will be any different," commented Ukitake pleasantly.

"This is no mistake. I built that alarm myself. The thought of it malfunctioning is impossible," said Kurotsuchi derisively.

"Enough! I won't have anymore bickering amonst you children," said Yamamoto angrily, causing all other talking to subside. Then, looking towards Ichigo, Yamamoto said, "Ichigo Kurosaki, why have you come here. We were told that you sacrificed your powers to defeat Aizen. Though we are not ungrateful, I must ask if this was false. With the Seireitei in a state of emergency, I find your timely arrival too coincidental to be by mere chance?"

Ichigo's eye twitched as he was reminded of Hitsugaya's earlier words before saying, "That's what I came here today to explain. Originally, I was supposed to lose my powers, but some something happened that allowed me to keep them."

Yamamoto merely nodded at this and motioned for Ichigo to begin his explanation.

"I'll start from the beginning then," said Ichigo before turning to look at each of the captains. "When Aizen managed to defeat the head captain, Urahara, my dad, and Yoruichi all attacked him together. Urahara managed to restrain him for a few moments with several high level bakudo spells, just long enough for him to shoot hado number 91, Senju Koten Taiho, at him with a special sealing kido hidden within it. Aizen then appeared to gain the upper hand when he slashed Urahara, but Urahara had tricked and sealed off the outlets for spiritual energy on his wrists using a special kido he developed to burn Aizen up from the inside using his own reiryoku."

Before Ichigo could continue with his story, Kurotsuchi spoke out, "If that was all it took to defeat him, then I fail to see what you did to stop him. If all it took was a simple sealing kido from a fool of a scientist to defeat that mindless degenerate, I could have done so myself and been done with the whole problem before it began," he scoffed.

Several of the older captains that remembered when Urahara had been a captain frowned at hearing the insult to the accomplishment that none of them could achieve when working together. Frowning, Ukitake said.

"You shouldn't denounce Kisuke Urahara as such, Captain Kurotsuchi. According to Ichigo, he was forced to create a seal that would have had to have been far stronger than any known seal to seal away Aizen's reiryoku to such a degree that it would cause him to be incinerated from the inside. And as you should well know, creating any form of kido, even single digit kido, is a skill of the highest degree that takes an extensive mastery over all forms of kido to even attempt, let alone succeed in. To think he developed an easily forbidden level kido, it places his skills at levels not seen since _Tessai_ Tsukabishi was the Kido Corps Commander. And I very much doubt Ichigo has finished his story, so it may be better if you hold your judgment until afterwards."

Kurotsuchi simply sneered at the elder captain telling him off, but wisely didn't retort. Then, looking at Ichigo, Ukitake gestured for him to proceed.

Nodding his thanks, Ichigo said, "Aizen didn't die when Urahara sealed his power. It managed to work for a few moments, but because he had fused with the hogyoku, he managed to survive and evolve into a stronger form."

"Where were you in all of this?" asked Captain Soi Fon.

"I was fighting Gin. While Urahara and the others fought Aizen, I kept Gin from attacking them," answered Ichigo.

Satisfied with his answer, Soi Fon merely nodded in response and motioned for him to continue.

"Eventually, Aizen managed to get away with Gin and head back to the Soul Society, where the real Karakura town was. When he did, I can only presume he destroyed the cleaner as he was going through the Dangai."

"How did Aizen manage to destroy the cleaner?" asked Yamamoto calmly "The remains of the creature have already been found, verifying your words as fact, but it was designed to be immune to all forms of damage."

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo responded, "From what I know, when Aizen destroyed the cleaner, he had already evolved further than before and obtained power much greater than that of any normal soul reaper. I would have to guess that he managed to gain enough power that the cleaner couldn't consume him and was destroyed as a result of it trying."

Frowning, Yamamoto said, "That is unsettling. The cleaner was built so that no measurable force could harm it. The thought that power like that exists does not bode well for the 13 Court Guard Squads."

Deciding to put the man's mind at ease as best he could, Ichigo said, "The only way Aizen gained that much power was with the help of the hogyoku. Without it, it'd be impossible to gain that much power and survive."

Before Ichigo could continue with his report, Soi Fon questioned the Captain Commander,

"Head Captain, how will Kisuke Urahara be punished for his creation of the hogyoku?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Ichigo loudly before Yamamoto could respond. "Punished? Why would Kisuke be punished, he wasn't the one that nearly killed several thousand people and wiped the Court Guard Squads off the face of Soul Society?" said Ichigo angrily to Soi Fon.

Looking at him with disdain, Soi Fon said, "The fact remains though that he created the instrument of our destruction and because of his actions, we were almost destroyed. Such actions can not go unpunished."

"No, that isn't fair. Kisuke may have created the hogyoku, but he didn't make it to destroy the Court Guard Squads. He made it to help study the barrier between soul reapers and hollows. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to save Shinji, Love, Lisa, or any of the other vizords when AIZEN almost killed them by turning them into what they are now," refuted Ichigo angrily.

"What is this? Kisuke Urahara saved those infected with hollow powers 100 years ago," asked Yamamoto, cracking an eye open in surprise. "This information is unheard of, where did you hear of it?"

"I heard it from Urahara himself and his story was later confirmed by Aizen when he addressed the vizord as 'failed experiments' when they came to help in the war," answered Ichigo.

Contemplating what he had been told for a moment, Yamamoto said, "This changes things. If Kisuke Urahara is indeed innocent and was framed, then he will be pardoned along with Tessai Tsukabishi and Yoruichi Shihoin."

"And what about the vizord? Will they be allowed back into Soul Society?" asked Ichigo.

"For their assistance in the war against Aizen and their proven control over their hollow powers, the vizord will be granted amnesty along with Urahara Kisuke, should he be found innocent," said Yamamoto finally.

"Despite this new evidence, Head Captain, it is still the actions of Kisuke Urahara that brought about the arrancar and Espada," said Soi Fon, slightly irritated that someone she viewed as a threat was being considered for a pardon.

"That's not true!" countered Ichigo quickly.

Scoffing, Soi Fon said, "Idiot boy, Aizen stole Kisuke Urahara's hogyoku the day of his betrayal and created his army of arrancar with it. I knew you were young and inexperienced, but I didn't know your stupid too."

Prickling in anger, Ichigo managed to rein in his emotions before they got out of control, they wouldn't help him here. Then scowling, he said, "That's not what I meant. I meant that Aizen never used Urahara's hogyoku."

"Are you implying that there are multiple hogyoku?" asked Soi Fon dangerously.

Not frightened in the least, Ichigo said, "Yes, Aizen had one of his own."

"Explain quickly. I want you to finish your report as soon as possible," said the head captain simply.

Nodding, Ichigo said, "Urahara developed a hogyoku while he was the captain of squad 12. When he was exiled, he took it with him and placed it within Rukia's soul and when she came to him asking for a gigai after she gave her powers to me, he gave her a special one that would turn her human and hopefully destroy the hogyoku."

"He did what?" asked Byakuya icily.

"Don't judge him to quickly," said Ichigo, trying to delay Byakuya's anger until he could explain. "I asked him why he would do something so underhanded and he told me that it was because he was out of options. He'd been working tirelessly for the past hundred years, trying to destroy the hogyoku to keep it out of Aizen's hands, but every attempt ended in failure. Eventually he got desperate and was forced to choose the lesser of two evils," explained Ichigo.

Byakuya wanted to be angry with the former captain, but now knowing the circumstances, he couldn't find it in himself to fault the man for what he did, instead he just gave a nearly imperceptible nod for Ichigo to continue.

"Obviously, despite Urahara's actions, Aizen got hold of his hogyoku when he took it from Rukia that day on Sokyoku Hill. Aizen then fed Urahara's hogyoku to his own to complete it. This technically means that it wasn't Urahara's but Aizen's hogyoku that created the arrancar and Espada," pointed out Ichigo.

"This information will be considered along with all other evidence when Kisuke Urahara's case is reviewed, but for now, complete your report without any more interruptions," said Yamamoto, looking pointedly towards each of the captains that had spoken out and gotten them off track.

Continuing once again, Ichigo spoke, "When my dad and I followed Aizen through the Dangai, we noticed the absence of the cleaner. My dad then told me about the time difference within the Dangai and we decided to take advantage of it. With it, I spent three months training with my bankai spirit, Tensa Zangetsu, and my inner hollow through the use of jinzen while my dad fixated the restrictive current. That's also why my hair is longer than it should be," he added as a side note.

Despite the previous warning, this information caused several outbursts among the gathered captains before one by one, they managed to break through to Ichigo.

"You expect us to believe that you, a mere human, not only stayed in bankai for three months, but also gained the strength necessary to defeat an opponent that the entire Court Guard Squads couldn't defeat in that same time. Preposterous."

"Are you insane? A stunt like that was incredibly dangerous. If your father had run out of energy, what would you have done then?"

"So if you've trained for three months, that means you've gotten stronger and we can fight."

"Impossible, a bankai requires enormous amounts of power to sustain for just a few short minutes. The thought of someone maintaining one for three months is ridiculous."

"Silence!," shouted Yamamoto, raising his spiritual pressure, causing silence to quickly fall over the room.

Then speaking, he said, "I will not have my captains bickering amongst themselves like children. What you do outside this room isn't important, but in here, you will control yourselves."

Looking towards Ichigo to continue, Ichigo said, "I don't know if my bankai is different from any of yours, but the only time I've felt a drain from using my bankai was when I first used it against Byakuya during our fight on top of Sokyoku Hill. I hadn't learned how to properly control my spiritual pressure yet and the resulting out of control pressure exerted by my bankai was slowly crushing my body. As for the safety of my training. I didn't have any other choice. Everyone else had already fallen and I was the only person left capable of fighting Aizen. At the same time though, I wasn't strong enough to fight him and win, leaving training in the Dangai as my only option. I also had faith in my dad to know his own limits."

When some grumbling and other murmurings broke out, Yamamoto slammed his cane on the floor, sending a resounding crack throughout the room and silencing the room again. Speaking, he said, "Ichigo Kurosaki, your bankai is Tensa Zangetsu and if reports on it are correct, it is a compression type. This type of bankai is extremely rare, in fact, only two known people have ever been known to possess a compression type bankai, yourself and one other that will remain unnamed. Alongside this, a compression type bankai is extraordinarily powerful and can give birth to some of the strongest abilities ever recorded. Unlike other bankai though that project reiryoku outwards to form a giant construct or something similar, a compression type concentrates a soul reapers reiryoku inwards and compresses it within the body, negating the expenditure of reiryoku as none leaves the body," explained Yamamoto.

"And what about his training in the Dangai? What is your verdict on it?" asked Soi Fon.

"His training in the Dangai is inconsequential. It's already happened and it is as he said, there was no other choice at the time," answered Yamamoto. "There is a problem though," he continued, getting Ichigo's attention. "No matter who you are, whether that be hollow, quincy, human, or soul reaper, there is no possible way you could have spanned the massive gap in power that you imply in just three short months. Even your own incredible rate of growth wouldn't have been enough to bridge such a massive difference in power. What aren't you telling us?" he commanded.

"You're right, I haven't told you everything," admitted Ichigo. "The truth is, the training I undertook in the Dangai was spent trying to learn just one technique." Noticing the confusion on several captain's faces, he continued, "The technique I learned is known as the Final Getsuga Tensho and it's what allowed me to defeat Aizen. I'll go into more detail on it in a moment."

"Before I say this next part though, since I know it'll raise a lot of questions, just wait until I finish before asking, I'll answer what I can while I'm talking."

Taking a breath, he said, "When I left the Dangai with my dad over my shoulder, I learned what had transpired during the hour that had pasted outside the Dangai. Aizen had cornered my friends and was taunting them after having killed Gin."

At this Ichigo was careful to watch out for any one about to interrupt, but was surprised when everyone held their tongue. He continued.

"From what I learned, Gin was never on Aizen's side. He only teamed up with Aizen to get revenge on him for taking something from Rangiku when they were both young. Since that time, he worked hard to get himself into Aizen's good graces, even going so far as to making everyone believe he had betrayed them, all until the perfect moment presented itself to him and he took it. Apparently Gin had kept the true ability of his bankai a secret from Aizen and he used that to catch him by surprise and take the hogyoku from his chest. It almost worked, but even though the hogyoku wasn't in him, the hogyoku still served Aizen. It caused Aizen to transform again and fully regenerate. Aizen then killed Gin after confessing that he secretly knew about Gin's plot against him the whole time. It was at that point that I arrived."

Ichigo stopped and like a well oiled machine the questions came.

"That can't possibly be true. If it was then he would have told us before hand and we could have planned accordingly," said Soi Fon, disbelieving.

"No offense, Captain Soi Fon, but you've refuted and denied almost everything I've said thus far, only for it to be proven true moments later. What reason do you think I'd lie now for?" asked Ichigo, irritated at her constant mistrust in him.

Several captains gasped at this remark and Soi Fon's face grew red in anger. Before she could retort though, Yamamoto called for silence before saying, "The truth behind Gin Ichimaru's betrayal is enlightening, but it is not important now that he is dead. Continue your report from that point onwards."

Nodding, Ichigo continued, "When I left the Dangai, I had gained strength and power that was impossible for even Aizen to comprehend. He didn't believe it at the time and instead thought that I had failed to get stronger when he couldn't sense my power. He then later changed his mind when I managed to pick him up and throw him several miles."

Just as someone was about to open their mouths to either question him or announce their disbelief, Ichigo said, "STOP, no questions, I assure that what I'm telling you is 100 percent true and possible. Just let me finish and then you can question me, alright."

When no one spoke out, he continued, "Eventually it got to a point where Aizen evolved again because I wounded him. After wounding me in turn, I was forced to use my ultimate technique against him, the Final Getsuga Tensho," he finished, causing several Captains to widen their eyes in comprehension as they saw the pieces falling together.

"Psh. A mere mockery of the true thing, no doubt," scorned Kurotsuchi.

Ichigo wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was he referring to his standard Getsuga Tensho or something else entirely. He got the feeling it was the latter of the two. He considered questioning the captain, but decided against it for the time.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ichigo said, "The Final Getsuga Tensho is a secret technique known only to myself. It's a sacrificial move that gives me more power than you can possibly imagine by converting all of the reiryoku in my body into pure reiryoku, which is comparable to pure reishi."

Instead of questions flooding him like he expected, the room was dead quiet, but not because of lack of questions. Breaking free of his shock first, Byakuya said.

"Everything you've said thus far stretches the boundaries of possibility further and further, but you've finally hit the point of impossibility. Nothing but a vessel formed of pure reishi, such as the oin, is capable of containing the nigh unlimited amount of power pure reiryoku contains. Simply being exposed to regular reiryoku is enough for pure reiryoku to begin warping and bending reality. This is why the oin is kept in it's own pocket dimension which is devoid of all normal reiryoku. Even attempting to contain pure reiryoku within a normal soul would cause said soul to immediately evaporate," explained Byakuya.

"Well, I did say it was a sacrificial technique, didn't I. The cost for using the technique is the loss of my soul reaper powers. That's why it's called final," said Ichigo, trying to convince them.

"Ichigo," said Unohana gently. "You have to understand, the thought that anyone could contain that much power is incomprehensible. Even when it's you,who's known for doing things others would believe to be impossible, such as mastering bankai in three days, it's impossible to understand how you could achieve something like what you described."

Frowning at the lack of trust, Ichigo said, "Well, it doesn't matter if you believe me, I'll show you proof soon when I finish my report."

Looking back at each of the captains before starting again, he said, "After I used the Final Getsuga, I used my strongest attack, Mugetsu. With it, I cut Aizen in half along with most of the mountain we were standing on. After I used it, my powers started to fade and I was left exhausted. Unfortunately, Aizen proved to be able to survive even being cut in half and he was slowly regenerating, though he was a lot weaker because of it. Regardless though, my powers were disappearing rapidly and he was quickly regaining his strength. As a final attack, I gathered what was left of my reiryoku and pushed it into my right fist. I then ripped the hogyoku out of him in the hope that maybe it could kill him now that he was weak. Unlike with Gin though, it actually worked.

"When I tore the hogyoku from him, the seal that Urahara placed on Aizen when he fired his Senju Koten Taiho at him, activated. It sealed Aizen off from all his power because I had pushed him to his limit and weakened him, causing the hogyoku to reject him as it's master and take the power that it had given him away.

"As Aizen was sealed, I fell unconscious. It was only after I woke up that I found out I had some how become the master of the hogyoku and because of it, I kept my powers. When I spoke to my zanpakuto, he told me that in order to do so, the hogyoku changed the composition of my soul into pure reishi so that I could contain all the power of the Final Getsuga Tensho," finished Ichigo finally.

The room was silent for a moment before erupting into chaos.

After several moments of shouting and yelling in controversy over what Ichigo had said, Yamamoto slammed his cane against the floor and released a wave of his spiritual pressure, bringing silence back to the room.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, are you saying that you possess the hogyoku?" asked Yamamoto gravely.

Realizing the trouble he might be in, Ichigo quickly clarified, "No, I do NOT have the hogyoku. The hogyoku has been destroyed. What I meant to say was that I was the master of the hogyoku temporarily. When the hogyoku finished changing my souls' composition, it shattered."

Hearing that the the hogyoku was destroyed, everyone relaxed, but still remained tense.

Yamamoto spoke, "Ichigo Kurosaki, we have listened to your report and now I must ask if there is any evidence you can produce to back up your words."

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo said, "When I went to Urahara to find out what happened to me, I found out that I had unlocked several abilities. One of them was teleportation."

Then acting, Ichigo teleported several feet forward. To those looking, it appeared as if Ichigo had simply disappeared. There was no warning, no build up, he just disappeared and reappeared immediately without any noticeable time elapsing, almost as if he had been in two places at once.

This stunt was met shocked silence before pandemonium broke lose.

Breaking free of his stupor first, Kurotsuchi said, "Head Captain, this boy has just displayed an ability which has only been recorded twice before in the history of Soul Society. You must let me study him."

"He is a serious threat, Head Captain. He must be eliminated before he can turn against us," said Soi Fon.

Ichigo would have liked to say he was shocked by the requests for either his imprisonment or death, but seeing who it was coming from, he just couldn't bring himself to it. He was offended though and was about to make his discontentment known before Yamamoto beat him to it.

Sending out a wave of spiritual pressure, Kurotsuchi and Soi Fon immediately stopped talking and waited for Yamamoto to speak.

Glaring angrily at the two captains, Yamamoto said, "We will do no such thing. Ichigo Kurosaki has served the Soul Society faithfully and fought along side us though he has no such obligation to do so. To turn against him after such loyalty shames me to even think about."

Ichigo was touched, if a bit weirded out, that old man defended him. He was about to say something when Yamamoto turned to him.

"After hearing your report, is it safe to assume that you wish to continue serving as a soul reaper?"

Not hesitating for a moment, Ichigo said, "Yes, I want to continue being a soul reaper."

Nodding, Yamamoto said, "Very well. If you desire it, you will be made a fully fledged soul reaper."

"Thank you, sir. I accept," said Ichigo formally.

"From this day forward then, you will serve under the 13 Court Guard Squads as Captain Kurosaki of a new squad who's sole mission is to protect Soul Society from threats bigger than it can handle."

"Whoa, wait, did you just say 'captain'?" asked Ichigo in shock and disbelief.

"Yes, I did. Our war with Aizen showed me that despite being united against our enemy, we still fell short against him in terms of power. Before the war there had been only one other time in recorded history where the Soul Society was truly at risk of destruction, and yet, never before has it come so close as to depend on a single person to do what an entire army couldn't," answered Yamamoto solemnly.

"But I can't be a captain, I don't have any of the experience or anything else that I need," countered Ichigo, convinced this was a terrible idea.

"Captains are rarely chosen for their battle experience, but instead for their ability to lead others into battle, which you have proven able to do many times over during your tenure as a substitute soul reaper," responded Yamamoto calmly.

"Yes, but I'm still living my life in the human world, and I can't just stop doing that to be a captain," said Ichigo, thinking he had won the argument.

"I am aware of your life as a human and allowances will be made for it," said Yamamoto.

Frowning slightly at his answers, Ichigo asked, "Ok, but why me? Why would you not only make a human a captain, but make an entirely new squad for them?"

Ichigo noticed at this that several of the other captains sent slight side glances to each other. So, there is more to this that they were telling him and they were all in on it. Well, he'd find out one way or another.

Frowning, Yamamoto said, "Despite being a human, you've proven yourself to be one of the strongest among us. Making you anything less than a captain would be a waste of potential. As for making a new squad. It is as I already said, the Soul Society needs a final line of defense that will protect it when all else fails. You being the one to defeat Aizen, are the only one that can fill that role. Alongside that, if you were to become the captain of one of the current captainless squads, it would undermine your position among the public as a result of the previous captains deserting."

"Alright, just stop. I know there's more to it than that. What aren't you telling me?" demanded Ichigo.

Yamamoto contemplated for a moment before saying, "Before Aizen killed Central 46, it was known for being extremely harsh against things it felt threatened by. This is why Central 46 banished Kisuke Urahara and sentenced those known as the vizord to death. When the Seireitei officially went to war against Aizen, the Soul Society was put under military rule. Now that the war is over though, a new Central 46 will be elected and as you yourself are only loosely affiliated with the Court Guard Squads, it is very likely that they will see you as a threat and act accordingly."

Ichigo glared at the Head Captain and asked icily, "Are you saying that despite everything I've done for them and the Soul Society as a whole, they would turn against me just because they're scared I might dethrone them?"

"Yes, and a war between the Soul Society and your group would not end well for either side. This is why we wish to make a bold statement by making you a captain. We hope that by making you a captain and thus allying yourself with us, that Central 46 will not act against you," said the Captain Commander honestly.

"Those bastards," cursed Ichigo.

"Regardless, this is the only practical solution. Originally we had hoped you'd lost your powers and that Central 46 would not bother you, but when we considered the possibility that you might retain them, this was the only solution," said Yamamoto firmly.

Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo said, "Damned if I do, damned if I don't. If I accept I would be tying myself to Soul Society permanently and if I don't, I'm hunted down like an animal, possibly bringing my friends and family into harms way. I have no other choice than to accept."

Yamamoto nodded and said, "You will be given time to come to terms with this new development. You can come back in a few day to be officially inaugurated and receive your haori."

"Ya, I'll do that. Will that be all, _Head Captain_," said Ichigo coldly.

Not seeming phased in the least by Ichigo's condescending tone, Yamamoto said, "Yes, if nothing more needs to be said, then this captains meeting is adjourned."

**And that's a wrap. Honestly though, this chapter was a bit bigger than I wanted, but I was determined to at least finish Ichigo's talk with the 13 Court Guard Squads and be named a captain. I'm sorry for all the mostly stale dialog, hopefully I'll have more action and plot driving events next chapter. Also, I don't have a name for Ichigo's new squad yet, so if any one has an idea then PM me it or put it in the comments. I want to name it something not overly presumptuous like "Delta Force: or something equally as stupid. His squad will essentially be Squad Zero only for Soul Society and it will have only captain class people in it, so consider that when you might think of a name. Also, I have a poll on my profile where you can vote on whether Rangiku should be added to his harem and whether I should have Ichigo sleep with other woman, so vote in if you want your voice heard. Till next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, peoples. I'm back with another chapter. What you may ask, another chapter, call the presses, tell them it's the end of the world, Astronomy's not only posted more than once a year, but three times in two weeks. Impossible, I know.**

**So, I've been busting my butt writing this to post just two days after my last update(technically, it's 11:56pm where I am). I've looked at the polls and it's leaning rather heavily to having me add Rangiku to Ichigo's harem and having him sleep with multiple woman. So, if you haven't voted, do it. If you've got an account, then just click my profile name and look at the very top of the page, seriously, it would take all of ten seconds to vote and have your voice heard. This chapter has a lot more stuff happening in it, so if you were bored of just dialog, then you might enjoy this chapter more. Also, there are two pervy parts in it. Not actually lemons or limes, but definitely pervy. Aside from commenting and telling me what you think and if you'd like to make a request for something, I think that's it. Enjoy.**

**Chapter 5**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

Ichigo was pissed, no he was beyond pissed, he fucking furious. He had shed blood, sweat, and tears for Soul Society, and how do they repay him, by threatening him with death unless he worked for them. What made it worse was that planned on working for them anyway, but they ruined it when they FORCED him to do it. Some may have thought that it was a great honor to be named a captain and Ichigo could easily sympathize with that belief. He didn't actually mind being a captain. If the Soul Society was still willing to let him live his life as a human, he wouldn't mind being a captain, but the fact that they had threatened him and indirectly his friends and family was unforgivable.

"Dammit." cursed Ichigo angrily as he walked around the Seireitei.

"What wrong with you?" said Rukia, coming up from behind him.

"Huh, oh, hey, Rukia, what are you doing out here?"

"I was just delivering some letters for Captain Ukitake, now you can answer my question. What's got you so pissed off?" asked Rukia.

Snorting in derision, Ichigo said, "Soul Society and their hypocrite leaders."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rukia, confused.

"It means that the head captain wants to make me a captain to protect me from those bastards on the Council," answered Ichigo.

"Wait, a captain! They want to make you a captain?" exclaimed Rukia, shocked.

"Yeah, what of it?" asked Ichigo, still bitter.

"You're complaining about being made a captain? Ichigo, there are thousands of others who'd kill to be in the position you're in, myself included. Being made a captain is the greatest honor that the Court Guard Squads can possibly give you, how could you even think about complaining about something like that?" questioned Rukia, aghast.

Turning towards her, Ichigo said, "I'm not angry about being made a captain; I'm angry about why they did it. They didn't say it directly, but it all equated down to them saying that if I didn't become a captain and tie myself to the Soul Society, then Central 46 would try to kill me."

"What?!" exclaimed Rukia angrily. "How could they do that after everything you've done or the Soul Society?"

"Apparently, it's because I'm a 'threat' to them because of my hollow powers and loose affiliation with Soul Society," answered Ichigo bitterly.

Frowning, Rukia said, "Well, it could have been worse. They could have tried kidnapping one of your sisters and forcing you to work for them."

That turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Immediately a wave of overwhelming pressure slammed Rukia to the ground. She couldn't breathe; she couldn't think. All she could feel was an all consuming pressure crushing her, squeezing her soul out of existence. Nothing could compare to what she was feeling now, every hollow, every soul reaper, even all the captain combined couldn't come close to power she felt now. She tried exerting her own spiritual pressure to try and counteract the one crushing her, but it was lost in the over powering force surrounding her.

Ichigo hadn't realized he had lost his focus and was letting a small portion of his spiritual pressure out and it was affecting Rukia. All he was thinking about was what he would do to those bastards on the Council if they ever third to hurt his friends and family. When he noticed Rukia on the ground gasping and shaking in fear, he was horrified and immediately suppressed his power. It took several moments, but eventually Rukia stopped shaking began breathing normally again. Ichigo then picked her up and carried her to a nearby bench where he sat down and laid her down on his lap.

Rukia woke up a few minuted later.

"Wha-What happened?" she asked as she looked up at Ichigo's worried face.

"You fainted," he said, concern written all across his face.

"Fainted?" she said softly, rubbing her head. "Yeah, I remember; I felt this force like nothing else I've ever felt before. I couldn't do anything against it, it just consumed me; and I-I just couldn't take it anymore. It felt so vast, almost infinite, more than even the captains combined have."

Ichigo grimaced at hearing her description his spiritual pressure. As she stared into space, thinking about what had happened, Ichigo resolved to do better when controlling he spiritual pressure.

"Will you be alright?" asked Ichigo, still worried.

Snapping out of her stupor, Rukia responded, "Uh, Yeah, I'll be fine now, it's just th-, hey, wait a minute," she said, getting up from Ichigo's lap. "Why weren't you affected by that pressure? You should've at least been on your knees gasping for air?" demanded Rukia.

Sighing, Ichigo said, "I wasn't affected because it was my own spiritual pressure. When you mentioned that they could've taken Yuzu and Karin, I lost my temper and let a portion of my spiritual pressure leak. I'm sorry," he apologized.

"What? That's not possible. The pressure I felt had more power than anything I've ever felt, even more than the captain. I know you're powerful, but there's no way it could have been you," said Rukia as she climbed to her feet, still a little wobbly.

Ichigo then released a much smaller portion of his spiritual pressure to prove he was telling the truth. Rukia was immediately pushed flat against the ground, unable to even push herself on to her knees, but she at least didn't go into shock and faint like last time.

Gasping and struggling to breathe, Rukia couldn't believe it, though it was much less than before, this was the same pressure that overwhelmed her just moments before, and now that she looked, she could feel Ichigo's reiryoku permeating the air around her.

Letting up again, Ichigo helped Rukia struggle to her feet. Looking at him in shock and wonder, she asked simply, "How?"

Smiling grimly, Ichigo said, "It's a long story that I'll tel you as were walking to where ever you needed to go."

"Alright, lets go,"

As they were walking, Ichigo told Rukia about his fight with Aizen and all the changes that happened to him because of it, even teleporting when she wanted proof.

"Wow, just, wow. I always knew you were powerful, but to be that powerful..., it's massive responsibility" she said, turning towards him.

Frowning, Ichigo said, "Yeah, I know. For the next week I'm going to be training to suppress my power. The hogyoku sealed away over 99 percent of my power, leaving me with about half a percent, I then had Zangetsu seal away as much as he could from what was left. If whatever small amounts I have left after all that was able to overwhelm you like it did, then I'm going to have to train hard to make sure I don't hurt the people I care about."

Nodding, Rukia said, "Were here," as they stopped at the R/D department.

"Here?" said Ichigo incredulously.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" asked Rukia, curious.

"Nothing, it's just that when I was at the captain's meeting, Kurotsuchi wasn't my biggest fan. If I remember, he wanted to open me up and dissect me when I proved I could teleport," said Ichigo.

Rukia grimaced, "Yeah, that sounds like him. Most people think he's not all there in the head if you know what I mean, but there's no disputing the contributions he's made to Soul Society. That's probably the only reason he's stayed a captain with his less than sociable personality."

"What was that about a less than sociable personality?" asked a voice behind them.

Gasping and turning quickly, Rukia stared into the face of the before mentioned captain.

"Uh, Captain Kurotsuchi, um, uh, I came to deliver some papers from squad 13 for you," she said, sweating nervously.

"That wasn't what I asked. I asked what you meant by a less than sociable personality," said Kurotsuchi with a mad grin. It was clear he knew what he was doing to Rukia and he was enjoying it.

This didn't sit well with Ichigo who wasn't happy at Kurotsuchi bullying Rukia. Frowning, he said, "I meant that you have no friends and no one likes you."

Scowling angrily, Kurotsuchi said, "I'll have you know that I have many friends, and I am well liked amongst them. Anyone with the slightest sense could have seen that you insufferable brat."

"Bullshit. The only friends you have are the ones you built yourself," scoffed Ichigo.

Snarling, Kurotsuchi said, "Give me the papers girl and be on your way. I have no time to deal with intolerable degenerates like you two."

Being quite pale, Rukia handed the papers quickly to the captain and was about to leave when Ichigo said.

"Hold on. There's something I need you to do for me first."

Snorting, Kurotsuchi asked derisively, "And what possibly makes you believe that I would do something for you?"

"I need you to register me, so I can open senkaimon. And I'm sure you'll be able to get some valuable research material while you're doing it," responded Ichigo.

Kurotsuchi immediately stopped. It was clear he was having an internal battle. On one hand he was helping someone he viewed as a nuisance, on the other he would be getting _highly _valuable information. In the end, the scientist in him won out and begrudgingly said.

"Fine, I'll register you. In return, I want you to teleport in to the building."

Not even bothering to question the odd request, seeing as the entrance was just a few feet in front of them, Ichigo grabbed Kurotsuchi's arm and outstretched his other towards Rukia.

"You coming?" he asked.

"No, that's alright. I have something else I need to do. You can come and find me when you're done," she replied.

Shrugging his shoulder, Ichigo said, "Alright, I'll meet up with you later then," before disappearing with Kurotsuchi.

Rukia just stared at the spot Ichigo had been just a moment before and shook her head. "I really should just stop trying to understand all the stuff that happens to him," she said before disappearing in flash step.

Ichigo and Kurotsuchi appeared in the blink of an eye.

Grinning like a mad man, Kurotsuchi said, "Incredible. It really was teleportation."

"Yeah, that's what Kisuke said too," answered Ichigo nonchalantly.

"Psh. That fool knows nothing. The walls of this building are inlaid with seki-seki stone, along with many machines that block reiryoku from entering or leaving. This makes it impossible to flash step, sonido, or use any other movement technique that transverses a set space to either leave or enter this building. Teleportation is unique though. Unlike other movement techniques that transverse a set amount space, teleportation doesn't, instead it somehow reduces the space between two locations to zero, allowing instantaneous travel, no matter the distance," said Kurotsuchi, fascinated.

"Hm," said Ichigo, not really paying attention.

Glaring angrily, Kurotsuchi said, "My words are wasted on an ingrate that can't appreciate them."

Frowning slightly at the insult, Ichigo said, "Lets just get my zanpakuto registered, so I can be on my way and you can study what ever it is you study."

"Follow me then," said Kurotsuchi, wanting to get to studying Ichigo's unique abilities as soon as possible.

When they arrived at a machine, Kurotsuchi said, "Give me you zanpakuto."

Nodding, Ichigo focused and watched as his zanpakuto appeared in his hands, causing Kurotsuchi's eyes to widen slightly in surprise, but holding off on questions till later.

Ichigo handed Kurotsuchi his zanpakuto and was surprised when he immediately dropped it.

"What'd you do that for?" asked Ichigo angrily.

"You idiot. I didn't drop it on purpose. It was heavier than I thought it'd be." growled Kurotsuchi angrily, reaching down to pick up the sword.

Kurotsuchi tried lifting the sword back up, but despite his efforts, couldn't move it an inch.

"This doesn't make sense. It's as if I'm trying to move a lead weight, but it doesn't show any effect on the floor from when I dropped it. If it really was as heavy as it appears, it'd no doubt crack the floor," said Kurotsuchi, gnashing his teeth at the unsolved problem.

Confused as to what Kurotsuchi meant, Ichigo bent down and picked up his sword as easily as if it weighed no more than a feather.

"But it appears as if you can lift it with no noticeable effort. Could this be an ability of your zanpakuto or a change from your fight with Aizen," mused Kurotsuchi.

"Drop it on the floor again, boy," demanded Kurotsuchi.

"What?" asked Ichigo, surprised at the request.

"You heard me, drop it on the ground from waist height. If it's as heavy as it felt, it'll damage the floor, if not then it's something else," responded Kurotsuchi, irritated.

Ichigo still thought it was a dumb idea, but complied none the less, willing to do anything to get done faster.

Ichigo's sword dropped and clattered on the floor, sending the rings it made throughout the room, but failing to do any damage to the floor.

"Alright, it _might _have scratched the floor, but that's hardly cracking it," said Ichigo. "Are you sure you're not just weak?" he asked, enjoying the look of derision appearing on Kurotsuchi's face.

Scoffing, Kurotsuchi called out, "Nemu, you worthless girl, come her now."

"Yes, Captain Kurotsuchi," responded Nemu in a monotone.

Ichigo frowned and asked, "Is this how you treat all your subordinates?"

"What of it concerns you? Nemu is my creation and I will treat her how I please," answered Kurotsuchi derisively.

Getting angry, Ichigo all but shouted, "If you created her, then you're essentially her father! How could you treat your own flesh and blood so badly? It's evil!"

Scoffing, Kurotsuchi ignored him and said, "Nemu, pick up that boy's zanpakuto up from the ground."

"Yes, Captain," said Nemu tonelessly as she attempted the task she had been given.

Nemu bent down and took hold of Zangetsu's hilt and tried to lift it, but just as with Kurotsuchi, failed to move it an inch.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but I can't lift it," said Nemu.

"You worthless girl, get out of here, you're no good to me," said Kurotsuchi angrily.

"Yes, Captain," she said as she quickly left the room.

Grinding his teeth at the lieutenants treatment, but knowing he couldn't do anything about it, Ichigo waited for Kurotsuchi to say something.

"This proves it," said Kurotsuchi gleefully. "There is something special about your zanpakuto hat makes it impossible to lift for anyone but you. I'll research this phenomenon when you leave, but for now, you'll put your zanpakuto in here and allow your reiryoku to flow through it," said Kurotsuchi, pointing to a small alcove in the machine they were standing in front of.

Nodding, Ichigo lifted his zanpakuto off the ground and pushed the blade into position. Then, allowing his reiryoku to flow through the blade without accumulating, Ichigo was shocked when the machine started smoking moments before something in it exploded.

Coughing from the smoke now filling the room, Ichigo was left unmarred, but Kurotsuchi was covered in burns with the remains of his haori falling to the ground around him in ashes.

"YOU IDIOT!" screamed Kurotsuchi. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"I did what you told me to do! It's not my fault that what you told me was wrong!" shouted back Ichigo.

"I told you to allow your reiryoku to flow, not push in an exorbitant amount and blow up the machine,' countered Kurotsuchi.

"I didn't push any in in the first place. All I did was allow my reiryoku to flow through my blade for the machine to read. I didn't do anything else," responded Ichigo.

"Hm, well, regardless of what happened, now that the machine is destroyed, I can't register you before rebuilding it and until I know what wet wrong, I won't register you. So, consider yourself out of luck," said Kurotsuchi spitefully.

"Hey, that's not fair, how am I supposed to come to Soul Society if I can't open senkaimon?" asked Ichigo angrily.

"Not my problem, now get out," said Kurotsuchi, walking away.

Growling, Ichigo stormed off though the exit.

Watching him go, Kurotsuchi cracked an insane grin. Kurotsuchi knew Ichigo had done nothing wrong, the machine just couldn't accept his power. As to why, he didn't know, but one thing was certain, Kurotsuchi had gotten a lot research material from this encounter and he was more than willing to study it.

_**Back outside:**_

Ichigo was pissed again, this time though, solely at Kurotsuchi. The bastard just loved fucking him over.

"Great, now am I supposed enter Soul Society?" asked Ichigo angrily to no one in particular.

Not coming up with anything, Ichigo decided to go to Rukia, maybe she'd have an idea.

"_Alright, lets see..._," thought Ichigo to himself as he widened his newfound sensing skills out, trying to find Rukia's signature.

Sensing in Soul Society, where everything was made of reishi, was a lot different than sensing in the human world, where the opposite held true. In the human world, everything had been colorless with objects being defined by a glowing outline that signified there soul and the reiryoku they let off. Unlike there though, here, everything was in color and if it wasn't for the fact that he was able to 'see' everything above, below, and around him for miles around, he could have mistaken what he saw as coming from his own eyes.

Despite sensing thousands of souls around him, ranging form low level soul reapers, to seated officers, and even just inanimate objects like the multitude of stones that covered the land, Ichigo was somehow able to pinpoint Rukia a mile or two away in almost an instant.

Getting ready to teleport to her, Ichigo took note of what she was doing. She was carrying a small box wrapped up in a ribbon. He knew he shouldn't, but if given the opportunity, how many people could resist. Curiosity over taking him, Ichigo tried to look beyond the box specifically to get a good look at what was hidden within. Suffice to say though, it worked a little to well.

Blood immediately started flowing from Ichigo's nose as he beheld Rukia in all her nude glory. Apparently, he hadn't looked beyond just the box, which he noticed contained a white sash, but also Rukia's clothing. He could see her small B-cup breasts and her _shaved _slit in all their perfection. If anyone found out he could do this, godlike power or not, he wouldn't last a week.

Immediately pulling back, so that Rukia and the sash were covered again, Ichigo teleported away towards them, leaving nothing more than his footprints behind.

Appearing suddenly in front of her, Rukia jumped in surprise and dropped the box she had been carrying.

"Ichigo, you idiot, you startled me," she said slapping him on the arm.

"Oh, sorry about that. You just said to come and find you after I was done with Kurotsuchi,so I did."

"Hm, Yeah, well, you could have appeared a little farther away; you almost gave me a heart attack," she said grumpily,picking up the fallen box.

Looking back up at him, she asked, "Hey, why is there blood on your face?"

"Um, I got a nose bleed," Ichigo, not meeting Rukia's eyes

"How? I thought you were nigh indestructible now." she asked again.

"Um, well, it's not important right now," responded Ichigo, sweat slowly rolling down his face.

Luckily, Rukia dropped it and asked.

"So, how'd it go with Captain Kurotsuchi, did you get yourself registered to use senkaimon?" she asked, walking again, Ichigo strolling along right next to her.

"No, there was a problem and the machine exploded," answered Ichigo, happy for the change of topic.

"What?" asked Rukia in surprise. "What happened?"

Ichigo then told her what had happened in the R/D department and his current problem.

"Hm, well, I'm sorry to say, but I don't know what to tell you. The senkaimon is the only way into Soul Society and if you can't open one, then I don't know," she said slowly, trying to think of a solution.

"Oh, well then, I'll ask Kisuke if he has any ideas then," said Ichigo.

"That's good then. Oh, I also got you a present, you know, for being made a captain," said Rukia, smiling and holding out the box for Ichigo to take.

Alright, now he felt kind of guilty. He'd thought that the obvious present was for someone other than himself and now he felt bad for having spoiled the surprise.

Never the less, Ichigo took the present and opened it, fake curiosity coupled with fake surprise at seeing the white sash within covering his face.

"A sash, wow, thanks, Rukia," said Ichigo earnestly. He may have known what the present was already, but that didn't mean he wasn't grateful for it.

"No problem, you deserve it. Even if you weren't made a captain for the right reasons, you have the makings of a great captain in you," responded Rukia, happy that he liked her gift.

"Honestly, I'm still not sure I'll like being a captain. I mean, I hear a bunch of the captains complaining nonstop about how much work it is. Do you actually think I'm cut out for it, Rukia?" he asked, slightly nervous as to what he was getting himself into.

"Of course I do, you big idiot. If there was anyone I'd choose to be a captain, it'd definitely be you," answered Rukia, knocking Ichigo on the arm for his own self doubt.

"Heh, thanks, Rukia," said Ichigo, a small grin on his face.

"Hey, look at this way, just imagine Renji's face when he finds out. He's been trying to become a captain for decades," said Rukia, trying to raise Ichigo's spirits.

Grin widening, Ichigo said, "Yeah, with that to look forward to, how could I not want to become a captain."

"See, that's the spirit, just focus on Renji's face and you'' be fine," said Rukia, grinning too.

"Well, I hate to cut this short, but I think it's about time I got back home, so I'll see you later, Rukia," said Ichigo apologetically.

"That's alright, I'll see you at your inauguration," said Rukia before flash stepping away.

In much higher spirits than when he left the captain's meeting, Ichigo started walking to the senkaimon gate.

_**Urahara Shop:**_

__"KISUKE, I'M BACK!" yelled Ichigo upon stepping out of the senkaimon, grinning at the punishment he was about to give the shopkeeper for tricking him.

Kicking open the door, Ichigo walked in and shouted to know one in particular, "Where is he?"

"Who are you referring to, Ichigo," said Yoruichi, closing the door behind him.

"Yoru-, Ahhhh, put some clothes on! Why are you such an exhibitionist" shouted Ichigo, covering his eyes.

Yoruichi was laying on the table in her birthday suit with her ample breasts hanging off over the edge, giving Ichigo pouting look.

"Ah, Ichigo, I'm not an exhibitionist; I'm sexy. Why do you always have to be like that, no one else has a problem with my appearance. If I didn't know any better I'd say you thought I was ugly," she said, crying crocodile tears.

"What!? No, it's not that, it's just that, well, um," stuttered Ichigo, falling for her ruse..

Getting off the table and strutting towards him, being sure to keep her legs widespread enough to offer just a hint of what was hidden there, Yoruichi slowly approached Ichigo, swaying her hips in a slow, intoxicating motion for good measure.

"Ah, are you embarrassed, Ichigo. Don't worry, you're a growing teenager an it's only natural that you'd want to take a peak. Go ahead, I won't mind, I promise," she said, breathing the last word huskily into Ichigo's ear while he kept his eyes covered.

Then snaking back around to his front, being sure to rub her body against certain parts of his anatomy, whispered, "I can see you peeking."

As if he'd been shocked, Ichigo jolted at being discovered so easily, but stayed rooted to the same spot, unable to run and take a much needed cold shower.

Taking it a step further, Yoruichi wrapped one of her legs around Ichigo's immobile body and pushed her groin into Ichigo's.

Then grinning, suggestively said, "I can see someones happy. I could take care of it for you, you know?"

Suddenly regaining control of his, Ichigo jolted and back pedaling, crashed into several boxes as he began stuttering.

"I-I have to go, now, um uh, to the training room. Y-You should stay here and-and."

Not even bothering to finish sentence, Ichigo made a beeline for the training room beneath the store.

Standing alone once again, Yoruichi lowered her leg back to the ground and smirked.

"It's only a matter of time now," she said, grinning.

"Yep, you certainly have him in the bag," said Urahara, popping his head out of a large ceramic pot. "Thanks again for helping me out. I can always count on Ichigo to start running when he sees your body."

Growing a tick mark, Yoruichi said, "So, Ichigo runs when he sees my body, huh?"

For all his smarts, Urahara could be pretty stupid at times, times such as when he said, "Yeah, he wouldn't come within 100 ft of you with a body like that."

Tick mark growing bigger, Yoruichi said, "So, you're saying I'm ugly then?"

Realizing too late, Urahara's eyes widened as he said, "Damn."

_**Down in the Training Room:**_

__Ichigo was sitting on one of the many boulders that populated the training room, trying desperately to get the even that had just transpired out of his head when he heard Yoruichi's voice form above.

"Oh, Ichigo, I have a present for you. I promise you'll like it," she said in a sing song voice from up in the store.

Ichigo feared the worse when he looked up at Yoruichi, only for his face to change to confusion when he saw her. She was still nude of course, causing Ichigo to immediately blush, but what caught his attention was that she was also carrying a big ceramic pot that seemed to be shaking.

Seeing his face, Yoruichi grinned and dropped the pot the 60 or so feet to the bottom where it shattered, revealing Urahara with the pot's lid sitting on his head.

"Yoruichi, I said I'm sorry. You have an amazing body that any man would want. Please, you have to protect me; you can't let him fi-."

Urahara stopped as he saw Yoruichi pointing soundlessly to an area behind him.

Growing pale, he said, "He's behind me isn't he?"

Grinning even wider, Yoruichi soundlessly nodded.

Turning mechanically, Urahara stared in horror at Ichigo who had teleported behind him when he realized who it was.

A cheshire grin slowly spreading across his face, Ichigo said, "Hello, Kisuke, it's time for my foot to meet your ass."

_**10 minutes later:**_

Urahara was lying on the ground in a fetal position.

"I feel violated," he sobbed pathetically.

"Don't give me that shit. I hardly touched you. You kept using those stupid gigais of yours to escape my foot," scoffed Ichigo.

"It still hurt to watch. My poor gigai weren't meant to suffer that kind of abuse," responded Urahara.

"Well, next time don't make me the ass end of one of your pranks," responded Ichigo.

"But it was funny," whined Urahara, finally dragging himself out of the dirt.

"Yeah, and it was funny when I kicked your ass into that rock."

As if he'd never been hurt in the first place, Urahara hopped up and said, "It was worth it. Your face when those alarms went off was priceless."

"Psh. Whatever. I've got some questions for you that I need you to answer," said Ichigo, trying to move along to more important matters.

"Oh, and what would those be?" asked Urahara.

Ichigo then told him what had happened during his time in the Soul Society.

"So they made you a captain. Can't say I'm surprised. Central 46 is ruthless when it comes to things they view as threats. Just look at me and the vizord," said Urahara, musing over the information he had just been given.

"Yeah, and I wasn't able to get registered to use senkaimon; any idea how to go about that?" asked Ichigo.

"Hm, well, aside from me opening one for you when ever you need to go, not really. Try asking your zanpakuto, he might know something," suggested Urahara.

"Alright, I can do that," said Ichigo as he sat down in preparation for jinzen.

Summoning his sword, Ichigo placed it across his lap and began relaxing himself, letting himself be pulled into his inner world.

_**Inner World:**_

__When Ichigo opened his eyes, he was in his new inner world.

"Whoa, still not used to my new world yet," mumbled Ichigo to himself.

Looking around, he spotted Zangetsu not far from him.

Walking up to him, Ichigo called out, "Hey, Zangetsu."

Turning towards him, Zangetsu widened his eyes in slight surprise.

"Ichigo, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I need your help real quick; I have a question," answered Ichigo.

"Then ask it and I will answer to the best of my ability," responded Zangetsu.

"Alright, is it safe to assume you know what happened while I was in Soul Society?" asked Ichigo.

"I am aware."

"Ok, good, just wanted to make sure. As you already know then, I tried to get registered to open senkaimon, but for some reason, when I put you into the machine, it exploded. Any idea why that happened?" asked Ichigo.

"That machine was built to read and absorb a regular a soul reapers reiryoku, and you are far from normal. When you placed me in the machine, it tried to absorb the reiryoku that flowed through me, but it wasn't prepared to handle reiryoku as dense as yours, causing it to explode from trying. This is also why the captain accompanying you couldn't lift me, the reiryoku that makes up my blade was too dense for him to lift. Because of this, only someone with reiryoku levels comparable to yours will be able to lift me.

"Wait, I thought zanpakuto were still, you know, physical objects that had mass and weight appropriate for their size and stuff?" asked Ichigo.

Nodding, Zangetsu said, "Most do, but when you used the Final Getsuga Tensho, you combined with your inner hollow and myself, becoming one soul temporarily. Although we're no longer one soul, because we became one, even if only temporarily, my physical form disappeared and became one with you also. It, unlike us, never stopped being one with you. This is what allows you to summon your zanpakuto from nowhere and is why it's also composed of your reiryoku," he explained.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense, but how am I supposed to travel to Soul Society if I can't open senkaimon?" asked Ichigo.

"Hmm, I sorry to say, but I won't be able to help you, BUT, I know someone who might" said Zangetsu.

"Well then, who?" asked Ichigo, curious as to who could help him.

"Your hollow. He could teach you the garganta and you could use it travel between not only the Soul Society, but also Hueco Mundo," revealed Zangetsu.

"What?" asked Ichigo in surprise. "But how would I get him to teach me?"

"Unfortunately, I can't help you with that. All I can tell you is that he fears being treated as your slave. That's why he's always fought you. He believes you'll take his power and when you're done with him, suppress him," said Zangetsu.

"What?" asked Ichigo in shock. "I would never do something like that. If he would just stop trying to take over and work with me, I wouldn't mind helping him," he finished angrily.

"I know that, but he refuses to believe it. You will find him if you journey to those mountains in the distance. He has taken to going there to blow off steam more and more since he realized he wouldn't be able to take you over with out causing the world's destruction. You need to travel there and convince him that working together would be to both of yours mutual benefit," instructed Zangetsu.

"Gotcha, I'll go there now," said Ichigo, determined to get his hollow to see sense.

Nodding, Zangetsu watched as Ichigo began his trek to the mountains, wondering what he would do to get the hollow to see sense. Knowing Ichigo, it's probably be something extremely risky. Sighing, he decided he'd take it as it came.

It took over half an hour for Ichigo to reach the mountains running at top speed. He spent that time thinking about what he'd say to his hollow to get him to stop fighting and help him. Eventually, he decided a direct approach was best. After all, everything about his hollow was direct, from his attitude to his fighting style.

As Ichigo approached the top of the mountain after several minutes of climbing and jumping, he heard explosions that told him his hollow was near.

"**Ahhh**, roared the hollow, destroying the mountain's peak with a swing of his sword.

"Having fun?" asked Ichigo, landing on the ground in front of the hollow.

"**Oh, Kingy, very much so. After all, everything in this world is a representation of you**," responded the hollow spitefully.

Glaring, Ichigo said, "I need your help."

Letting out a cackle, the hollow sneered and said, "**Oh, let me guess, you want to learn how to open a garganta so you can travel to Soul Society. Come on, tell me how close I was; was I right?**"

Glaring harder, Ichigo said, "Cut the shit. I'm also here to offer you a deal if you stop being a jackass and start helping me."

Lowering his sword, the hollow said, "**Oooh, a deal. How interesting. Unfortunately, I'm very busy and can't afford to be helping dumb asses.**"

"Fuck off. I love our 'I hate you, you hate me' relationship as much as the next person, but it needs to change. I know that you can't take over without destroying everything, so here's the deal, you help me; I help you," said Ichigo, already getting tired of his hollows antics.

"**Oh, and suppose I refuse then, hm. What'll you do then?**" asked the hollow, actually giving Ichigo his undivided attention.

"Easy. You refuse and you can spend your existence being a landscaper. I see some mountains right over there that look like they need to be leveled some," responded Ichigo easily.

Ichigo knew he was being a dick, but that was the only way you could talk to his hollow and actually get somewhere. He could have tried an understanding approach where he tried to get the hollow to work through his feelings for him. The thought had made Ichigo laugh as soon as he came up with it. If he had tried anything even remotely sympathetic, his hollow would've clammed up and likely attacked him faster than it would take Yoruichi to take off her clothes. His hollow wasn't a sentimental person.

Narrowing his eyes, the hollow said, "**Hm, and suppose I do accept; what do I get out of it?**"

Crossing his arms, Ichigo said, "It's like I said, you help me; I help you. You help me by teaching me hollow techniques and actually working with me; and I'll let you willingly have control over my body for a few hours a week in Hueco Mundo. You can go on a killing spree and lower the hollow population at the same time. It's a win-win."

Narrowing his eyes further, the hollow said, "**A tempting offer. But how do I know you'll uphold your end of the bargain? How do I know you won't just suppress me when you get what you want?**"

Glaring at him, Ichigo said, "Despite what you seem to think; I'm not a sadistic asshole who gets off at suppressing you. It takes more effort than I'd like to admit keeping you under control and it just seems like it'd be better if we worked together instead of always fighting. Aside from that, if we work together, we'll be stronger. During those times when you're in Hueco Mundo, you'll have free access to all our powers. Just imagine the chaos you'll be able to wreak," persuaded Ichigo enticingly.

A grin replacing the suspicious glare, the hollow said, "**You make a good point. I could have the hollow population halved within an hour with access to all my power,**" then staring at him with a predator's glare, said "**But appealing to my own pride isn't enough. You seem to forget that I know you better than even the old man does; and I know that there's another reason you're making this obviously weighted deal.**"

Not backing down just when he was getting somewhere, Ichigo admitted, "You're right, there is another reason. The truth is, I owe you. I may not like you, but I'm not one to leave a debt unpaid and as far as I'm concerned; you did me a favor that night 18 years ago when you absorbed my soul reaper powers. Consider this my thanks," he answered.

Scoffing, the hollow said, "**I don't need your thanks. I couldn't have cared less about your precious soul reaper powers. I only picked them up by mere chance. If I had the choice, I'd have already thrown them away.**"

Glaring again, Ichigo said, "It doesn't matter if you need it or not. Either way, I've payed my dues."

Ichigo then waited in silence as his hollow contemplated his offer, looking at it from all angles, searching for any signs of deception.

Scowling, the hollow looked back at Ichigo and said, "**Alright, you have a deal. If I start working with you and teach you to use my power, you'll give control of your body over to me once a week for five hours in Hueco Mundo. Those are the term. What say you?**" he asked.

Ichigo answered by sticking his hand out for a handshake, which the hollow took with a maniac grin on his face.

"One condition though," said Ichigo as the hollow let go of his hand.

"**Oh, and what's that?**" asked the hollow mockingly, but curious none the less.

"I reserve the right to take back control at any moment if it's an emergency, such as if we run into Soul Society while you're on one of your killing sprees. And a word of warning. If you break our deal, I'll bury you so deep within my soul, that you'll never resurface."

Not intimidated in the least, the hollow grinned and said, "**Naturally, and if you break our deal, the last thing I'll do before being suppressed is mix our energies, destroying the universe and everything you care about in the process.**"

Not reacting to his hollows very real threat, Ichigo simply nodded and said, "Then we understand each other."

"**Good. I'll begin teaching you the garganta when you leave this world,**" said the hollow calmly.

"Alright, but before I go, you need a name," said Ichigo thoughtfully.

"**What?!**" asked the hollow irritated. "**I don't have a name and I don't want one, especially not one from you.**"

"Everyone needs a name," countered Ichigo. "And besides, I can't just keep calling you 'hollow' now that were working together."

"**Yes, Yes you can. It's exactly what I am. There's nothing wrong with it,**" said the hollow angrily.

"But it feels derogatory," said Ichigo.

"**DEROGATORY! Derogatory to what, the enemies you work so hard to to brutally kill everyday,**" said the hollow sarcastically.

Ichigo didn't have a response to that. Instead he just shook his head and said, "No, you need a name, something to distinguish you by, something like, Hichigo," he said proudly.

The now named Hichigo just stared at him before saying in disbelief, "**I didn't know it was possible to hate you more that I already do, yet somehow you've made it happen. You really can do anything, can't you?"**

Growing a tick mark, Ichigo said, "What's wrong with it. It's my name because you look like me with an 'h' in front of it to represent 'hollow'; it's perfect."

"**That's the problem. I couldn't have come up with a less creative name if I tried. At least 'hollow' was descriptive,**" said Hichigo, outraged.

"Psh. You don't know what you're talking about. Hichigo is a great name," said Ichigo stubbornly.

Growing a tick mark of his own, Hichigo said, "**You know what, I don't care anymore. You call me whatever the hell you want because nothing you come up with could possibly be any worse than that shit you just came up with.**"

"Great," said Ichigo, grinning. "I'll go back and when I wake up, you can start teaching me."

"**Whatever; just get out,**" said Hichigo, turning around and beginning to walk off.

Still grinning, Ichigo slowly faded from the world, leaving the hollow alone on the mountain.

"**Hichigo,**" said Hichigo, testing the feel of his new name in his own mouth. Scoffing, he said, "**Still sounds like shit.**"

_**Back in the Training Room:**_

__Ichigo opened his eyes, grimacing at the sudden brightness that surrounded him.

Getting up, he looked around for Urahara. Not seeing him, he made his way up the ladder, into the main shop, where he found Urahara sitting calmly and drinking tea.

"Hey, Kisuke," said Ichigo, drawing the shopkeepers attention.

"Oh, Ichigo, I was wondering when you'd wake up. So, did you get an answer to your problem?" he asked, sipping his tea.

"Yeah, I'm going to learn how to open garganta," said Ichigo.

Choking, Urahara beat his chest for a moment before swallowing and saying, "What? But that's a hollow technique. Don't tell me you're going to be working with your hollow."

Nodding, Ichigo said, "Yeah, and his name is Hichigo. Me and him made a deal where he would stop working against me and start teaching me hollow techniques, starting with opening garganta."

"And what does he get out of it?" asked Urahara worriedly, concerned that his pupil might have bitten off more than he could handle.

"In return for his help, I'll let him out Hueco Mundo for five hours a week where he'll kill only hollows.," answered Ichigo.

Nodding, Urahara said, "Alright, I said I'd trust you to know when it's safe to trust him and I do, but please, remember my advice."

"I will," said Ichigo, nodding in confirmation.

"When are you going to do it?" asked Urahara.

"Right now if possible. Do you want to watch?" answered Ichigo.

"Yeah, I'll come down with you."

Back down in the training room, Ichigo sat cross legged with Urahara doing just the same in front of him.

"Alright, what will you do first?" asked Urahara, his zanpakuto unsheathed and laid across his lap in case it was needed, though he doubted it would actually be much good should Ichigo's hollow truly break free.

"I don't know; I'll check," answered Ichigo, closing his eyes.

"_Hichigo, you there_" thought Ichigo.

"**Of course I'm here you idiot. Where else would I be?**" said Hichigo scathingly.

"_Just checking,_" thought back Ichigo. "_What do I do first?_" he asked.

"**Hmm, I can't teach you hollow techniques as a person would regular techniques. A hollow technique like opening gargantas is purely instinctual,**" said Hichigo.

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo thought, "_If you lied to me...,_" letting the threat hang.

"**Don't get you panties in twist,**" bit back Hichigo, irritated. "**I said I can't teach it to you normally. It's as I said, hollow techniques are instinctual and can;t be taught like other techniques. In order to get you to do one then, I'm going to show you how it feels to open one.**"

"_And how are you going to do that?_" asked Ichigo.

Grinning at what he was about to say, Hichigo said, "**Simple, I'm going to take over and open one for you.**"

"_What!?_" demanded Ichigo angrily.

"**Shut up, I'm not done. I won't be taking full control; I'll only direct your body. Essentially, we'll be two minds in the same body. There's a problem though,**" said Hichigo.

"_Of course there is,_" thought Ichigo, remembering Zangetsu's words about things of worth.

"**This'll only work if you let it. We'll be two minds in the same body. This means that we can both move your body, but any actions made by the other that interfere with actions the other one takes, will fuck up everything. All I'm going to be doing is lifting your arm and tearing it through the air to open a garganta. When I do, I want you to focus on how it feels,**" said Hichigo.

"_Alright,_" responded Ichigo, ready to get started.

"**Good, now I want you to search within yourself. Feel your reiryoku in your body and push past it. Deeper in should find a darker store of reiryoku, that's the power you got from me when I let you defeat me,**" instructed Hichigo.

"_Let?_" asked Ichigo disbelievingly.

"**Yes, 'let'. I 'let' you defeat me so that I could pass on just the tiniest modicum of my power to you for you to use without arousing suspicion. Back then, in order for me to take over, you would have had to become dependent on my power and use it as much as possible, so I just spread that process along,**" said Hichigo casually.

"_Bastard,_" cursed Ichigo, irritated at being made the fool in his hollow's attempt to take over.

"**Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Now get to it and above all, the most paramount rule in anything I teach you is you do _exactly _what I tell you to the fucking 't' and not a damn thing more. I don't even want you to twitch if I don't expressly tell you to. Remember, one fuck up, just one, and you can kiss this universe good bye,**" said Hichigo, deadly serious.

Ichigo gulped and thought, "_Yeah,_" before looking deep within himself. He sensed his own reiryoku reserves and as always since he had absorbed the power of the Final Getsuga Tensho, it felt like looking into a bottomless ocean that expanded infinitely. It was a harrowing experience when he couldn't even fathom the depths of his own power. Then pushing deeper, he felt a much colder reiryoku source, this he assumed was his hollow's power.

"_I think I found it,_" he thought to Hichigo

"**Yeah, that's it. Now, I want you to pull it to the surface, but don't do anything with it,**" said Hichigo.

"_Like when I on my mask?_" asked Ichigo.

The response was immediate. "**NO, YOU IDIOT! Don't you remember my warning, just one fuck up and this universe is history. When you put on that mask, the small amount of power you got from me, mixes with your own, giving you a sizable boost in strength, but that's the last thing we want to do right now. It'll only take the smallest amount from either of use for this world to go boom,**" warned Hichigo angrily.

"_Alright, alright. Bite my head off why don't you,_" mumbled Ichigo, doing as instructed and pulling Hichigo's power to the surface and stopping.

Urahara tensed when he felt Ichigo start to radiate hollow reiryoku, but aside from gripping his sword tightly, stayed still.

"**Great, now I'm going to take over from here. You might feel a bit odd, but whatever you do, don't try and move your body,**" said Hichigo, getting anxious at what they were about to do.

Ichigo relaxed and didn't move when he felt a _presence _enter his mind that _felt _like Hichigo. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

Urahara gripped his sword tighter when he saw half of Ichigo's hollow mask appear on his face.

"Ichigo, are you still there?" he asked, worried about his students silence.

Opening his eyes, one colored amber and the other brown, Ichigo zeroed in on Kisuke.

Speaking in his normal voice, Ichigo said reassuringly, "Yeah, I'm here, Kisuke. Just hold on for a little while longer. I've got it all under control," causing Urahara to relax his grip on his zanpakuto.

"**You ready?**" asked Hichigo, feeling impatient.

"_Uh, Yeah, I guess. Ugh, I'm already regretting making this deal. It feels like I made a deal with the devil,_" responded Ichigo, nervous.

Grinning, Hichigo said, "**That's how it's supposed to feel; now get ready cus I'm about to start.**"

Reading himself, Ichigo felt the alien feeling his left arm moving involuntarily, causing him inadvertently twitch. Pain shot up Ichigo's left arm, causing him to groan in pain.

"**You idiot. What did I tell you? I told you to NOT move, and that's exactly what you do. Damnit, if my freedom wasn't on the line, I'd drop you right now and leave you to figure it out,**" said Hichigo angrily, gritting his own teeth in pain as his own arm burned in pain.

"_Jeez, I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting it to feel so damn alien. I couldn't help it. I promise I won't do it again,_" apologized Ichigo, knowing it was his own fault.

"**Hmph, well your lucky that I'm also skilled at high speed regeneration. I've already healed the muscles you tore with that stunt,**" scoffed Hichigo.

"_Tore? Was it that serious?_" asked Ichigo.

"**You idiot. What happens when you pull a sheet of paper left and right at the same time?**" asked Hichigo derisively.

"_Uh, it tears,_" said Ichigo, still slightly embarrassed at his blunder.

**"EXACTLY! And muscle is no different. Apply enough force in opposite directions, and it'll tear like paper. Next time listen and do what I tell you. You won't always get a second chance, such as if you accidentally mix our reiryoku,**" said Hichigo spitefully.

Ichigo flinched at the reminder of what could happen if he screwed up. Speaking, he said, slightly subdued, "_Gotcha. I'll be careful."_

When his arm moved on it's own this time, Ichigo was certain not to so much as twitch. Hichigo lifted his arm up and _grabbed _the air and tore downwards, opening a small garganta in front of Ichigo.

Urahara just watched carefully as Ichigo lifted his arm and tore open a garganta, alert for the slightest sign betrayal.

Looking at the newly opened garganta happily, Ichigo felt Hichigo leave his mind and return to his inner world, causing his eyes to return to normal and the mask covering half his face to crumble.

"**Well, now that you've seen it, try opening one for yourself,**" said Hichigo, calmly.

Smirking, Ichigo got up and focused, remembering how it felt when his hollow opened the garganta. Reaching deep within himself again and bringing his hollow's power bubbling to the surface, he reached forward and_ grabbed _the air. Then, tearing downward, opened a garganta big enough for him to walk through.

"Congratulations, Ichigo," said Urahara, re-sheathing his sword and breathing a sigh of relief, that had been a bit too close for comfort.

"Thanks," said Ichigo. "I guess I'll be able to go to Soul Society easily now."

"Ya, though I'd make sure to inform someone that you'll be using gargantas. Wouldn't want to cause a panic now would we," said Urahara, holding his fan in front of his face.

"Ya, I'll be sure to tell someone when I go there next," said Ichigo. Then thinking, thought.

"_Hey, Hichigo._"

"**What? I taught you the technique, aren't you happy now. Leave me to my peace,**" answered the hollow dismissively.

"_I am; I just wanted to thank you for helping learn the technique,_" thought back Ichigo.

Snorting, Hichigo said, "**Keep your thanks. I'll be more than happy when you let me loose this Saturday.**"

"_Yeah, I know, but you have it none the less. I just wanted you to know,_" responded Ichigo, grateful.

"**Hmph, whatever,**" said Hichigo, sunning himself on a rock. This really was a better inner world.

**Alright, another chapter gone. I'm not dumb enough to place an update date, but it's POSSIBLE that I may update again in a few days. Who knows. Be sure to comment and vote on the poll. Stuff like that is where I get my motivation. People are just lucky it doesn't take much to get me motivated.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back again with another update. I plan to keep them coming until I reach about 100k words, and then I'll level them out a bit more. Maybe limit myself to one update every week or two. I've kept an eye on the polls and it still seems as though I'll be adding Rangiku to Ichigo's harem and having him sleep with woman not part of his harem.**

**A few things, one, I've got a six page paper to type for my composition II class, so I probably won't be able to get back to working on this story till late Sunday or starting on Monday. What I find funny though, is that I hate having to do writing like that, and yet, I can bring myself to type over 60 pages in under two weeks, but can't do a six page paper in over a month. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the essay is completely stupid and my time would be better spent watching the grass grow.**

**Second, I love reading everyone's reviews and if you ask a direct question, I will get back to you, likely in 30 minuets or so. Those people that have sent me PM's or asked a question in reviews know what I'm talking about.**

**Third, I'm trying to find a cover art image for this fic, but I can't find a good one. I'm trying to find one that shows Ichigo using the Final Getsuga Tensho or something surrounded by Halibel, Rangiku(If the polls stay the way they are), Neliel, and Yoruichi. So, if anyone finds a good picture, let me know how ever you want.**

**Lastly, I try to throw a little comedy in every once and a while, so although this story isn't listed as comedy, just know that I try to throw in it in there every now and then. Laughter is the best medicine for the soul and all that.**

**Chapter 6**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

Ichigo was on his way home after his breakthrough in connecting with his hollow and subsequent mastery of the garganta. Hichigo had been right; it was all instinctual. He had just done what felt right and within and hour, he had been able to open any sized garganta he wanted.

Looking around himself, Ichigo watched cars going by, off to wherever the people within them were heading. Regular people just dong regular things, he noted. He knew he could just teleport home and be done with it, but he didn't want to miss moments like this when he could just reconnect with everything around him. Now that he knew the truth about what lay beyond the human world and the constant run-ins this world had with it, he was amazed that people here were able to live in complete ignorance of it.

Shaking his head, he said, "The Seireitei certainly knows how to do it's job."

Continuing on his way, Ichigo stopped when he felt a garganta open somewhere close to the park. Sensing a weak hollow signature spawn from it, he decided he didn't really need to be home at the moment and that he could do with a light work out. Ichigo set off to the location at a swift trot, feeling lucky that he had left his body at home when he came to visit Urahara earlier in the morning.

Ichigo grew curious as he got closer to the park and subsequently the hollow. The hollow in question hadn't moved from the spot it had spawned from and it's already outrageously weak reiryoku signature was getting weaker as the minuets crept by. He had originally assumed it to be a foolhardy newborn hollow testing out it's strength, but now he was leaning more towards it being an injured hollow that had fled to the living world to escape death by some other hollow's hand. From what he felt now though, it wouldn't survive much longer anyway. He'd be sure to put it out of its misery quickly when he reached it.

As Ichigo approached the area where he felt the hollow's reiryoku signature, he felt a sense of foreboding. It felt as if the strings of fate had been struck and that what he was about to do would not only affect the rest of his life, but the lives of everyone he knew also.

Approaching much more carefully now, he even felt Hichigo and Zangetsu paying strict attention, as if they too could feel destiny at work.

Nothing he did could have prepared him for what he found when he entered the clearing. Laying motionless on the ground was an arrancar he didn't recognize. She was gravely injured, much of her body covered in what appeared to be her own blood, with a broken sword next to her. From what he could see, her mask had covered her upper breasts and lower face, but whatever had happened to her had broken much of it off and shredded whatever clothing she may have been wearing, leaving most her body majorly nude.

In any other circumstances, Ichigo might have been embarrassed at seeing a nude woman, but in this instance, he didn't think even his hollow could fault him.

The arrancar on the ground weakly opened her startling green eyes to look at the soul reaper who had found her. She had hoped someone would find her quickly and put her out of her misery. She had been struggling to survive for over two days now, fighting desperately with her own diminishing strength. When she had been forced to flee to the human world to escape a small pack of hollows, she had been forced to crawl to the exit of her garganta, lacking even the strength to stand. It had taken the very last of her strength just to pull herself out from the exit. Now though, she just wanted to rest, to finally let go and close her eyes.

"**Don't talk like that Tia. If you give up, that means I have to give up too. Were partners remember. You can't just quit on me,**" said Tiburon worriedly, her own strength nigh nonexistent at this point, all energies being spent on keeping Tia alive.

"_I'm sorry, Tiburon, but I don't even have the strength to lift my head and look at the soul reaper in front of me properly. I'm also sorry that I'll never be able to avenge Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacchi, for what Aizen led them to, and for what he did to me,_" thought Tia, a single tear clouding her already foggy vision before escaping and running down her face, into the dirt.

Ichigo had killed hundreds of hollows before easily and without preamble, but he'd never actually killed something that looked so human before. His resolve already weakened by how broken this woman looked, completely shattered upon seeing the tear run down her face. He may end up regretting it later, but he could never hurt someone who was already so damaged.

Tia saw the soul reaper step forward as she prepared for her end, slowly closing her eyes for what she thought would be the final time. When she didn't feel her life end, she mustered her strength and opened her eyes. She was surprised when felt the soul reaper pick her up and start carrying her, holding her close to his chest, his warmth slowly permeating her body.

It was only then that she realized just how cold she'd been. The hollows she had faced in Hueco Mundo had destroyed most of her mask and clothing, opening her nude body to the cold air of Hueco Mundo. That coupled with severe blood loss had greatly reduced her bodies temperature and if blood loss didn't kill her first, hypothermia would.

She didn't know what this soul reaper was doing carrying her instead of just finishing her off, but it would hardly matter anyway seeing as she wouldn't be able to resist either way. Instead, she let herself fall into blissful unconsciousness, protected from the cold by this odd soul reaper.

When Ichigo had finally made up his mind, he slowly stepped up to the fallen arrancar, weary of any tricks. He kneeled down and scooped her up into his arms. Ichigo immediately noticed how cold she was. He instinctively held her closer to his chest, trying to warm her cold body.

Making sure he had her, Ichigo set off to Urahara's shop, running as fast as he could without harming his charge anymore than she already was, not wanting to risk teleportation in her fragile condition.

At the speed he was going, he was certain he'd get to Urahara's within the next minute or so, but he wasn't so sure the arrancar he was carrying would make that long. The act of moving the wounded hollow had reopened several of her wounds, coating his hands in her blood and causing her already pale face to begin losing what little color it had left.

Ichigo was beginning to panic; he could feel her heartbeat beginning to slow as her body began shutting down. If only he had learned some form of healing kido, then maybe he could have stabilized her enough to make it to Urahara. It was times like this when he felt truly helpless. It was times kike this he wished he was like Orihime with the power to heal people by returning them to when they were healthy.

Ichigo persevered though, dead set on getting to Urahara's as fast as he could without killing the arrancar. So dead set was he, that he didn't notice when his hands began to glow a silvery gray color that spread across the arrancar's form.

Ichigo landed on Urahara's doorstep and quickly hammered on the door.

"Urahara!" he called out frantically.

Opening the door a moment later, Urahara looked out and saw Ichigo carrying an unconscious arrancar.

Immediately judging the situation, Urahara said, "Come in."

Entering the room quickly, Ichigo watched as Urahara quickly shut and locked the door before turning and asking.

"Might I ask why you brought an arrancar to my home, Ichigo?"

"Isn't it obvious, Kisuke, she's injured," Ichigo, wondering if the man was blind.

Looking at him oddly, Urahara said, "Injuries?"

"Yes, injuries, can't you see all the blood I'm covered in?" asked Ichigo, irritated.

Nodding, Urahara said, "Yes, I see the blood, but what I don't see is the injuries. Look for yourself."

Obliging the shopkeeper, Ichigo was shocked when he didn't see any hint of the wounds that had covered body moments before. Even her clothes had been restored, leaving her wearing an odd type of jacket that unzipped from the bottom and a long skirt that went down to her feet. In fact, the only sign that she had been injured in the first place was the blood that stained Ichigo's hands.

"What?" asked Ichigo, at a loss as to what had happened.

"Hmm. You say she was wounded, but for whatever the reason, she's now completely healed. Did anything odd happen on you r way here?" asked Urahara, looking at Ichigo expectantly.

Thinking for a moment, Ichigo said, "No, I don't think so. All I did was pick her up where I found her in the park and hurried here as fast as I could without harming her more than she already was. I would've teleported, but I didn't want to risk with her in such a fragile condition," answered Ichigo.

"That's probably for the best, but I do have to ask, how did you find your friend here?" asked Urahara.

"I found her when I was walking home. I sensed a garganta open and what I thought was a low level hollow come out of it. I, of course, headed over to deal with it. Originally, I thought it was just a newborn hollow that had grown arrogant in its own power, but as I got closer to it, I noticed that it never moved from where it came out of the garganta and that its reiryoku levels were dropping rapidly. I figured then that it must have been an injured hollow that had fled from Hueco Mundo, in which case I'd just put it out of its misery. When I got there though, I saw her lying there, near death. Her mask had been shattered and her clothing shredded, showing the massive stab and slash wounds covering her body. I couldn't find it in myself to kill her, so I picked her up and carried her here," explained Ichigo.

"Wait, did you say that her clothes were shredded?" asked Urahara, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"Ya, what about it?" answered Ichigo, confused as to the significance of such information.

"Look at her; her clothing is repaired also. Healing doesn't do that. Whatever healed her also reversed the damage done to her clothes, and I can only think of one thing that would do that," hinted Urahara.

Widening his eyes in realization, Ichigo said, "Orihime's powers."

"Exactly,: said Urahara, pleased his student figured it out.

"But wait," said Ichigo, shaking his head. "Orihime didn't heal her. I came right here when I picked her up."

"Yes, but don't you remember what I said about you developing more abilities?" asked Urahara .

"Ya, of course I do, but do you really think it's possible I developed Orihime's powers," answered Ichigo.

"Well, it's the only feasible solution. Tell me, did you feel any different when you were coming here?" asked Urahara once again.

Contemplating, Ichigo said, "I'm not sure. When I was about a minute or so away, I started to panic because I felt her heartbeat beginning to slow. Do you think that could have done it?" asked Ichigo.

"It's very possible. Souls develop the most when under stress of some sort and your feelings of desperation could have very well awakened the ability to regress time around an area," explained Urahara.

"I still don't understand how that could be true. I mean, I think I would have noticed if I started healing her," said Ichigo, still not believing.

"Well, lets test shall we," said Urahara before grabbing a teacup he had been drinking from earlier and threw it to the ground, shattering it into dozens of pieces.

"I want you to focus on those feelings of desperation you felt when you were bringing the arrancar here. Focus on them and try to reverse the damage done to my cup," instructed Urahara.

Nodding, Ichigo moved closer to the cup and concentrated, focusing on the feelings of desperation an helplessness he had felt when bringing the arrancar to Urahara. He let it fill him up before forcing it outward, causing a silvery gray aura to bloom over his hands. Reigning in his surprise, Ichigo willed the odd energy to flow over the broken cup, making a light, swirling silvery field cover the teacup and its surrounding area.

Urahara watched in smug satisfaction as the teacup he had just broke, repaired itself in just moments, much faster than even Orihime's rejection powers.

When Ichigo finished, he allowed the energy to dissipate, the teacup now being as immaculate as it was before Urahara broke it.

Sighing, Ichigo said, "Alright, so you were right, big deal."

"Yes, and you were wrong; don't forget to mention that part," said Urahara, grinning.

"Psh," scoffed Ichigo. "I guess since she'll be okay, we should just wait until she wakes up to question her," suggested Ichigo.

"Yeah, that's fine. While were waiting, we can test the limits of your new ability," said Urahara, getting up and walking to the door.

_Several Hours Later:_

Several hours later, Ichigo who had stayed in the room with the arrancar, noticed her start to stir.

During the time Ichigo had been sitting, he had been practicing and testing the limits of his new rejection powers. Actually, rejection may not have been the best term. The biggest thing they had discovered about his new powers had been that they wasn't confined to just reversing an object through time, but also accelerating it, reducing it to dust.

Urahara had been ecstatic when Ichigo told him. He had made him begin experimenting by accelerating the spoilage of an old apple, causing it to rot almost immediately. And just to confirm, Urahara then had him, once gaining a little more control, accelerate a video camera set to record. The battery in it had died immediately, but upon checking, there was over 24 hours worth of video recorded.

It had been this test that proved without room for debate, that Ichigo's new powers altered the very essence of time in a set space instead of just causing decay like the second Espada or rejecting an occurrence like Orihime.

In the end, it turned out that though he had the power, he lacked the control to use it effectively. He had gotten lucky when he healed the wounded arrancar. If he had messed up even a little, he could have accidentally forced her body to regress too far or perhaps even forced her to devolve. The same was true for his acceleration powers. If he wasn't careful, he would force whatever he used it on to age until it turned to dust.

He had also learned the limits of his power. Urahara had said that with enough practice and control he could possibly even stop time in an area by regressing time only enough to halt its current flow, essentially canceling it out, but no more than that. Doing something like this obviously required the epitome of control, something which he sorely lacked. Alongside that, the area his power could influence was extremely small, hardly a foot in width. This; however, was the easiest to mend as with every use of his new powers, his area of influence grew.

Now though, Ichigo watched the arrancar slowly shift into wakefulness.

When Halibel regained consciousness, she spent a few moments regaining her bearings. She felt she was lying on something soft, a couch maybe. She also felt very much alive. She clenched her fist tightly. If she was alive, that meant who ever had saved her must want something from her. She then slowly sat up, looking around the room before focusing on the only person in the room, an orange haired teen.

Ichigo didn't react when she slowly sat up and looked at him with a calculative glare.

"Why am I alive?" asked the as of yet unnamed arrancar.

"I saved you," answered Ichigo. If she was anything like what she seemed from just the few seconds he had known her, she would want short and to the point answers.

Narrowing her eyes, Halibel asked emotionlessly, "Why?"

"Because I couldn't find it in myself to kill you. You looked like you had suffered enough and I couldn't bring myself to hurt you further, so I saved you," answered Ichigo, just as emotionless.

"You are a soul reaper. Why could you not kill me, a hollow?" she asked, this time in puzzlement.

Sighing, Ichigo answered, "Because I know not all hollows are bad. I've met some that are very kind even if a bit, uh, shall we say, enthusiastic," he said, thinking of a small green haired arrancar he had once helped.

Halibel's eyes rose slightly in surprise, after all, it wasn't everyday that you met a soul reaper who didn't believe all hollows to be soul devouring monsters. Then speaking, said, "You're not a normal soul reaper, are you?"

Smirking, Ichigo said, "Far from it."

It was at this time that the sliding door opened and Urahara steppe din carrying three cups of tea.

"Ah, I see our friend here has finally woken up," he said.

Halibel was immediately on guard at the unexpected stranger, but seeing the still unnamed soul reaper not react, relaxed slightly. If they wanted her dead, they would've already done it.

Offering everyone a cup, Urahara sat down with his own cup and asked, "So, who are you?"

Bringing her own tea down from her mouth, Halibel answered, "I am Tia Halibel, the former tercera Espada."

This caused more than a few raised eyebrows. Ichigo spit out the tea he had been drinking and Urahara looked at Ichigo and said, "Well, Ichigo, you certainly know how to keep things interesting around here."

"Wait," said Halibel. "Ichigo as in Ichigo Kurosaki, the human soul reaper?" she asked, curious.

"Yeah, that's me," answered Ichigo. "Why?" he asked wearily.

Looking at the soul reaper with newfound interest, Halibel couldn't see what had made him so interesting to Aizen. Answering she said, "Aizen spoke about you often. I also felt when you fought the sixth Espada in Hueco Mundo. I must say, I was expecting, more."

Growing a tick mark, Ichigo said, "Hey, you don't even know me yet."

Snickering behind his fan, Urahara added, "Oh, I don't know, Ichigo. I know you and I can say that you're nothing special. In fact, you're the epitome of ordinary. Nothing interesting ever seems to happen around you."

"Shut up, Hat-an-Clogs," shouted back Ichigo, irritated.

Halibel was confused at their childish antics, weren't they at all concerned that a potentially powerful enemy was sitting right across form them.

Clearing her throat, Halibel got the attention of the two soul reapers, stopping their bickering.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, trying to get back on track.

"Well, how you ended up injured like that would be a good start," supplied Urahara.

Nodding, Halibel said, "A little over two days ago, I fought a young captain by the name of Toshiro Hitsugaya. We fought hard, but in the end he defeated me. I was revived later, but Aizen intervened as we were about to begin fighting again and betrayed me by slashing me across my chest. When the battle ended, I managed to open a garganta and retreat to Hueco Mundo. I planned to go there and heal, but upon arriving, I spent the next two days fighting for my life as a seemingly endless number of hollows attacked me at every turn.

"Over the course of those two days, my wounds only grew and my strength only dropped. During the battles, they managed to shred my clothing and break most of my mask, depleting what little of my strength remained. Earlier today, I was fighting off even more hollows when my zanpakuto, Tiburon, broke. Now without my weapon, I used what was left of my strength and opened a garganta. I was then forced to crawl to the exit where I fell out into the wooded area you found me in," she finished.

Neither Urahara or Ichigo were smiling at the end of her story, both remaining impassive until Urahara said, "You must have very strong life force to have survived through so much. I saw the blood covering Ichigo when he brought you to me, any other person would've been dead long before."

Halibel simply nodded, accepting the compliment.

"What will you do now?" asked Ichigo.

Halibel was contemplative for a moment before answering, "I don't know. I suppose I'll go back to Hueco Mundo and try to forget everything that's happened."

"I wouldn't advise that at the moment," interjected Urahara. "The Seireitei is still policing Hueco Mundo for any of Aizen's remaining forces. If they were to find you, I can guarantee they'd send at least two captains to find and finish you. I don't mean to insult your strength, but Captain Hitsugaya is not only the youngest and most inexperienced captain, but also one of the weakest."

Halibel frowned, "Where am I to go then if not Hueco Mundo? I can't possibly stay in the living world and going to Soul Society is suicide," she asked.

Sighing, Urahara said, "I'd offer to let you stay here until things in Hueco Mundo calmed down, but I deal with soul reapers daily and I might not be able to hide you for long with company like that."

"She can stay with me," supplied Ichigo.

Halibel was surprised at this, not only did this soul reaper save her life, but now he was willing to offer her a place to stay. This soul reaper really was odd.

"Well, since that's decided, I'll go grab a gigai for her to use. I'll just need to adjust it a little to accommodate her being an arrancar," said Urahara happily.

Halibel didn't know what a gigai was, but she didn't really care at the moment, instead she stared at the soul reaper in front of her, trying to figure him out.

When Urahara had left the room, she spoke, "Why are you doing this for me? I was your enemy?"

Shrugging, Ichigo said, "You needed help. What kind of person would I be if I didn't help a person in need?"

"I am grateful for your generosity, but in Hueco Mundo, a person rarely does anything out of the goodness of their hearts." stated Halibel.

Frowning, Ichigo answered, "I don't know what it was like growing up in Hueco Mundo, but here, I had the power to save you and now I have the chance to help you; I don't need any other reason than that."

Frowning, but accepting his answer for now as she could detect no lie, she asked "What happened to Aizen?"

"He was defeated." said Ichigo simply.

"By whom?" she pressed.

"Why?

"Aizen betrayed both myself and the other Espada, leading us to battle against the enemy and then betraying us; I can't let that go. As he has already been defeated, I will satisfy my need for vengeance by killing the man who stole his death from me," Halibel answered calmly.

Ichigo stiffened and said, "But how's that fair?"

"I don't understand?" said Halibel, just as calmly.

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo clarified, "I meant, how's it fair for you to kill a n innocent man for doing what he had to? The man that defeated Aizen didn't have any choice in the matter. Aizen had defeated the entire Court Guard Squads and he was the only one left able stop him. If he hadn't defeated him then Aizen would've won and killed the Soul King, taking over for him and becoming a tyrant."

Halibel frowned and said, "Regardless, I must at the very least fight him. I have to know how large the gap between Aizen's power and my own really was."

Relaxing, Ichigo said, "That can be arranged."

Raising an eyebrow elegantly, Halibel asked, "How so?"

Ichigo answered, "Because I'm the one that defeated Aizen."

Halibel was shocked, this young man had defeated the one enemy that even the Seireitei couldn't. No, it couldn't be true.

"Prove it," she said, glaring.

"What?" asked Ichigo, confused.

"You heard me. I want you to prove it. Show me the power that defeated Aizen when even the Court Guard Squads combined couldn't. I sense that you're easily at the level of one of the soul reaper captains, but it would take much more than that to defeat Aizen when no one else could," she demanded.

Remaining emotionless, Ichigo said, "You don't want me to do that."

Glaring, she said, "Yes, I do. I have to know how you, a mere human, could have gained the strength to kill someone so powerful."

Most people would say that Ichigo was as thick as a brick when it came to reading people or picking up on people's feelings, and maybe in someways he was, but the truth was, he could be very perceptive when the time called for it. And right now, as he studied Halibel, he could see that she didn't want to feel his power just so she could measure her own, no, she wanted to feel his power so that she could know how much she had failed by.

Ichigo relented. "Alright, I'll show you, but will you at least tell me why?"

Halibel stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Looking her in the eyes, Ichigo said, "I know that look in your eyes. You failed to protect something didn't you and you want to know how much you failed by, right?"

Halibel flinched, she hadn't expected the soul reaper to be that perceptive. She said coldly, "It's none of you concern. Now show me."

Ichigo sighed as he let out a small amount of his spiritual pressure, slightly more than when Rukia had asked for him to show her. Halibel was immediately floored. Her body crumbled under the weight of his spiritual pressure, forcing it down, onto her stomach.

She struggled to push herself off from the ground and look up at Ichigo who was looking down at her sympathetically. A million thoughts went through her head as she did this. How was this possible, a human had forced her to her knees without the slightest effort. Was this all her power amounted to, being forced to kneel before a young human boy. If this was truly the power that Aizen had possessed then she would've have never won. He would've crushed her as easily as she would an ant.

She looked at Ichigo and croaked, "How?"

Ichigo let up on his pressure,, allowing Halibel the chance to shakily get to her feet and sit back down on the couch. Speaking, he said, "I had to make a sacrifice and this was the unexpected result.

Narrowing her eyes in confusion, Halibel said, "I don't understand."

Ichigo nodded and said, "When I fought Aizen, he had gained a whole new level of power thanks to his merging with the hogyoku. The power you just felt form me is nothing compared to the power that Aizen had when we fought. His power had ascended to heights such that no one beneath his level of reiryoku could even sense him. Because of this, I was forced to use a secret sacrificial technique known as the Final Getsuga Tensho in order to defeat him."

"What did you have to sacrifice?" asked Halibel softly. If what Ichigo was saying was true, then power like that couldn't have been free.

Ichigo gave a humorless smile and said, "The Final Getsuga Tensho gave me more power than you can possibly imagine, but at a cost. In order to use the technique, I would have to sacrifice my soul reaper powers and become a normal human again. I would have to give up all the friends I had made in Soul Society and return to living a normal life in the living world."

Halibel's respect for the soul reaper in front of her grew significantly. When she was an Espada, her aspect of death had been sacrifice and even now, she greatly respected those who would willingly give themselves to protect something important.

Speaking, she asked, "So, you sacrificed yourself even though it wasn't your duty?"

"No, it was my duty," said Ichigo firmly. "If I had stood by and allowed Aizen to win, he would have killed not only my entire town, but also my family. I would have sooner died than let him do that. If the price was returning to a human life, then I would do it."

Ichigo's words stirred something in Halibel. Here was a boy, not even a man yet, willing to lay down his life for what he loved, something she greatly respected him for. She felt she could truly relate to this boy through their shared ideals. But before Halibel could communicate these feelings to Ichigo, the door opened and Urahara stepped back inside carrying a humanoid body.

"Alright Miss Halibel, all I need you to do is come with me and push your reiryoku into this. Doing that will transform this gigai into your likeness and allow you to enter it. Something you should note; however, is that I've modified this gigai to accommodate your hollow reiryoku and suppress it. While wearing it, you won't be able to access any of your powers, okay," explained Urahara.

Recomposing herself, Halibel merely nodded and followed Urahara out the room, leaving Ichigo alone.

When Halibel and Urahara reentered the room, Ichigo was gobsmacked. Halibel was wearing an extremely tight t-shirt that looked ready to burst from trying to contain her massive breasts coupled with an even tighter pair of jeans that hugged her body like a second skin. Alongside that, she had two lighting bolt shaped marks on her cheeks and her hair which had previously had three pony tails in it, now had a wilder look.

"What the hell, Kisuke?" asked Ichigo, trying to stem his nose bleed.

Urahara grinned perversely and said, "Hey, don't blame me. I didn't have any clothes that would fit her, so I got some from Yoruichi after I explained the situation to her. She even picked them out when I told her it was for you."

Ichigo glared at the shopkeeper before turning to Halibel who looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong," he asked.

"Nothing, it's just that this 'gigai' as you said it was called, is more restrictive than I thought," she answered.

Ichigo grinned sheepishly and said, "Ya, after you've been a spirit for a while, it can feel really limiting when you get into a gigai or in my case, a body."

Halibel nodded and asked, "Can we go now?"

"Ya, lets go," said Ichigo, getting up. "Kisuke, is there anything we need to know before we go?" asked Ichigo.

Urahara thought for a moment before saying to Halibel, "Well, you should have a backstory. Where were you from in life if you can remember?"

Halibel didn't hesitate when she said, "I'm originally from Hawaii. When I became a hollow; I was one of the lucky few that could recall glimpses of their past." 

Nodding, Urahara said with a grin, "Alright, and we'll just say you're an exceptionally well developed 18 year, same as Ichigo. I think that should do for now if people don't prod too much. I'll start making a history for you in case you need to stay here longer than intended."

"That it?" asked Ichigo, ready to get going.

Turning towards him, Urahara said, grinning, "Well, it'd be nice if you took this communicator/camera with you, you know, just in case something happens"

"Not a chance in hell, Hat-an-Clogs," said Ichigo blandly.

"Oh, come one, I've got to get my fun somehow. I want to see your dad when he sees you bring Miss Halibel home," whined Kisuke.

"Oh, damn, you're right, I forgot about dad," cursed Ichigo. "But don't worry, I think I have a plan."

"Does this mean you'll take the camera for when your plan fails?" asked Urahara hopefully.

"No," said Ichigo, stepping out the door with Tia following.

_**On the Street:**_

As Ichigo and Tia walked down the street, Tia gave a slight shiver that she then tried to disguise by rolling her shoulders, but Ichigo wasn't fooled.

"Are you cold?" asked Ichigo, concerned, it was still winter after all.

"No, it's just that these clothes don't offer the best insulation. Is this really what human females wear?" she asked.

Frowning, Ichigo said, "Some do, but here, you can wear my coat till we get to my house."

"No, I can't. You'll get cold then," protested Halibel as Ichigo took off his bankai's coat that had somehow become his new uniform, seeing as he could no longer seal his zanpakuto.

"Don't worry; I'm used to this kind of weather, and besides, a soul is a lot more resilient than a body or gigai, you've got to take care of it.," countered Ichigo, handing her his coat.

Halibel would have protested more, but she really was cold and the coat Ichigo offered promised to be warm, so she took it reluctantly, leaving Ichigo in just his black hakama and shitagi.

When Tia put on the coat, she was immediately warmed by Ichigo's remnant body heat.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," said Ichigo nonchalantly.

A few more minutes passed in silence before Ichigo said, "There's something I need to tell you before we get to my house."

Tia looked toward him, not speaking, but showing that she was listening.

"My family can be a tad, eccentric, especially my dad. I just want you to know that if they say something insulting or make you uncomfortable in some way, they don't mean it, it's just how they are. My sister Yuzu is a really friendly person and she'll probably immediately start asking you questions and you should just humor her until she gets bored. My other sister, Karin, is more relaxed, she'll probably just give you your space and leave you alone, but my dad, well, lets try not to think about him," said Ichigo, reminiscing.

It was clear to Halibel that Ichigo loved his family dearly and would likely do anything to protect them. It was this that prompted her to say, "You really love them don't you?"

Looking at her, Ichigo said, "Yeah, I'd do anything to keep them safe. If someone were to hurt any of them, I'd hunt them to the ends of the earth and farther."

He didn't say it directly, but Tia understood the warning clear as day, hurt my family and I'll kill you.

When the duo reached Ichigo's house, Ichigo said, "Alright, I want you to stand over hear, out of sight."

Ichigo's entire plan for hiding Tia from his father consisted of her standing just out of sight from anyone just looking out the door. It was _obviously _foolproof.

When, Ichigo opened the door, it immediately swung open and Isshin came flying out screaming.

"HA, HA, YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!"

As always these days, Ichigo ducked and allowed Isshin to fly over him. What he didn't consider though was that by ducking, he had allowed Isshin a full look at Halibel as he flew by.

As if in slow motion, Ichigo realized his mistake too late and as his dad flew by, he saw the surprise appear on his face before his grin slowly appeared.

"FUCK," cursed Ichigo loudly. "We have to get in now," he said, grabbing Tia's hand and running into the house before Isshin even hit the ground.

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" asked Tia, worried.

"My dad saw you," he said as if that explained everything.

Frowning, Tia asked, "Is he upset that I've come home with you?"

Ichigo snorted and said, "You couldn't be further from the truth."

Just then, from outside, Isshin yelled at the top of his lungs for all the world to hear, "ICHIGO, MY BOY, THE DAY HAS FINALLY ARIVED!"

"Damn, he's starting. Tia, I can't explain everything at this moment, but just trust me," said Ichigo before scooping Tia up bridal style and rushing up to the stairs to his room as Isshin came barging back into the house.

"IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED. THE LONG AWAITED DAY OF PROPHECY HAS COME. MY BOY HAS FINALLY BROUGHT HOME A GIR!"

This latest outburst from Isshin caught the girls attention. Up until now they'd just ignored whatever he'd been shouting about, writing it off as another of his insane rants.

"What, Ichi brought home a girl," said Yuzu, excited at the prospect of having a cooking buddy.

"Oh, this can't be good. I'm getting a headache just imagining the stuff that's going to happen now. I can't even imagine how Ichigo feels about all this," said Karin, rubbing the back of her head and staring at the ceiling.

Speaking of Ichigo, he was pressed up against his door with Tia, struggling to keep Isshin out. They had tried barricading it with Ichigo's dresser, but that only helped slightly. During the whole thing, Ichigo was sweating bullets and Tia was just following Ichigo's lead, more confused than ever, but willing to trust that whatever Ichigo was doing was for the best.

While this was happening Isshin was screaming at the top of his lungs, "I'M SO PROUD, ICHIGO. AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF HOPING, YOU'VE FINALLY FOUND A GIRL."

Looking over at him, Tia asked, "Ichigo, what's happening?"

Looking back at her, Ichigo said, "It's my dad. He's been trying to get me a girlfriend for years, but I kept rejecting them. When he saw you, he probably got the wrong idea and assumed."

Not quire sure what a 'girlfriend' was, Tia none the less said, "Well, why don't you just tell him the truth," she suggested.

Looking at her dubiously, Ichigo said, "It won't work. He's prone to take things out of context or just straight up make things up."

Raising an eyebrow, Tia said, "It can't be that bad."

Sighing, Ichigo said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Then taking a breath, Ichigo shouted, "Were not dating you old goat. Tia is just a friend."

"WHAT? YOU'RE ENGAGED! ICHGO, MY SON, YOU'VE MADE ME SO PROUD!"

"NO, I said were NOT dating," yelled back Ichigo, trying to make his dad see sense.

"THE WEDDINGS PLANNED FOR NEXT MONTH! I'LL INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!"

Ichigo then heard Yuzu's voice from somewhere down the hall. "WHAT!?" she yelled. Then sobbing, cried, "NO, ICHI, YOU CAN'T LEAVE; YOU HAVE TO STAY!"

Then looking back at Tia who had simply given up on understanding the situation, said, "I told you."

"SHE'S PREGANT TOO. ICHIGO, YOU WORK SO FAST."

Growing a tick mark, Ichigo hit the door and shouted, "SHUT UP!"

"When will he stop?," asked Halibel.

Thinking thoughtfully for a moment, he said, "That depends. What time is it now?"

Looking at the rising moon, Tia replied, "About 8:00."

"In about eight hours then," he answered definitively.

"What are we going to do then?" asked Tia, still calm.

"Well, I've got an empty two liter bottle, several gallons of water, and enough food to last the two of us for a few weeks if we ration it," answered Ichigo seriously.

Halibel just looked at him and said, "You can't possibly think of a more practical solution?"

"Like what?" he asked.

Sighing, she said, "Such as talking to him."

Ichigo just looked at her as Isshin let out another shout.

"I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY! I CAN SEE MY GRANDCHILLDREN NOW!"

Halibel just sighed and in a resigned voice, asked, "What food do you have?"

"Hm, well, lets see," said Ichigo, getting up and going to his closet.

A moment later Ichigo cursed loudly,"That bastard."

"What is it?" asked Tia, not sure she even wanted to know.

"That bastard took it all. The food, the water, he even took the bottle. There's nothing left," said Ichigo dejectedly.

Paling, Tia said, "You mean we'll have to..."

"Yes," said Ichigo sadly. "We'll have to resort to cannibalism."

Growing a tick mark, Tia said, "I meant we would have to face your dad, not start eating each other."

"Oh," said Ichigo, disappointed, but not protesting.

Slowly, the two deconstructed their barricade and opened the door.

The first thing Ichigo noticed was his crate full of supplies sitting right behind his dad. Ichigo glared.

"ICHIGO!" screamed Yuzu, running and hugging his legs. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE. YOU HAVE TO STAY!" she cried.

Ichigo was glaring at his dad who seemed to be perfectly content watching his son squirm.

"You're a dead man walking," he said.

"Ah, now don't be like that. Can't a father be happy his son brought home a girl," replied Isshin cheekily.

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo said, "Not when he knows I'm not dating them."

Ichigo was well aware that his dad was only about 9/10ths as stupid as he looked and knew that he wasn't dating Tia, but how could he pass up this chance to torment him.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE NOT DATING," yelled Isshin loudly, deciding his son had had enough and that it was time to get some answers.

Looking up at Ichigo with teary, puppy dog eyes, Yuzu said, "You're not leaving?"

"No, I'm not leaving," said Ichigo, managing to hide his irritation and tousling her hair.

Sniffling, Yuzu said, "Promise."

Sighing, Ichigo said, "Yes," causing Yuzu to let go of his legs.

"Well, this was fun, but maybe we could go down to dinner and talk," said Ichigo, trying to move things along and get the worst over with.

_**At the table:**_

Ichigo, Tia, and the rest of the Kurosaki family sat around the dinner table, eating what Yuzu had made quietly. An awkward silence had fallen over the table seeing as no one knew where to start or what questions to ask until Ichigo snapped.

"Alright, someone needs to say something. This awkward silence has to end."

"Well, it's good someone finally noticed," said Karin, putting down her own fork loudly.

"Oh, Ichigo, what's your friend's name," asked Yuzu excitedly.

"My name is Tia Halibel," answered Tia calmly, inside though, she had been extremely uncomfortable during the extended silence and was happy that they were finally talking.

Isshin quirked an eyebrow at this particular bit of information.

"You certainly know how to pick'em, Ichigo," he said teasingly, but having a question in his eyes.

Noticing his father's eyes, Ichigo said, "Yeah, I'll explain later."

"Explain about what?" asked Yuzu, curiously

"Nothing, sweetheart," said Isshin, patting Yuzu on the head.

"Where are you from?" asked Karin, noticing her exotic look.

"I'm originally from Hawaii," said Tia, truthfully.

"Wow, how did you an Ichigo meet?" asked Yuzu.

Knowing they didn't have a plausible answer for that yet, Ichigo intervened, "I met her as I was passing the airport. She came over to study abroad, but the hotel she was going to stay at canceled on her, so I offered her a place to stay here."

"What are you studying?" asked Karin.

"Now, now," said Isshin. "Don't ask all your questions now or you won't have any for later. Now why don't you two go up and get ready for bed."

After the twins had gone up, Ichigo turned to his dad who now had a serious face.

"Thanks for that. We don't have all our answers planned out yet."

"No problem," said Isshin calmly. "So, mind telling how you two actually met. After all, it's not everyday you meet the third Espada."

Tia flinched at this. Had she already been found out; were they going to try and kill her after all? Tia was slowly starting to panic before she felt Ichigo grab her hand. She looked at him as he said.

"You don't need to worry, my dad's a soul reaper too. It's only natural that he''d recognize you," he said, trying to calm her nerves.

Turning back to Isshin who simply waited for their response, Tia said "Former third Espada. Aizen betrayed me and left me to die. I escaped to Hueco Mundo, but had to flee here to avoid being killed by other hollows. Ichigo found me on the verge of death and he saved me."

Isshin grinned slightly and said, "It's good to know I didn't raise a killer, but I need to know, what do you plan to do now?"

Looking downward in thought, Tia said, "I'm not sure. When I awoke, I planned to go back to Hueco Mundo when my strength returned, but a man in a hat said that soul reapers were policing it. Ichigo then offered me a place to stay. I haven't thought much beyond that really."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need to. The only thing you should know is that my daughters are oblivious to anything having to do with spirits. I'd like to keep it that way a little while longer, so try to hide who you really are from them until I tell them the truth," said Isshin happily.

Halibel nodded as Ichigo said, "Tia, you can go up to my room, I'll be up there in a minute; I just need to talk to my dad real quick."

After Tia had left, Isshin asked seriously, "You know the consequences of protecting her right?"

Ichigo nodded, "I know, but I couldn't just leave her there. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I just stood by and let her die. She told you a watered down version of how she ended up in the living world. When I found her, she should've already been dead. She was bleeding from almost every spot on her body and her mask had been all but shattered. If I hadn't discovered how to heal her, she would've been dead before I got to Kisuke's."

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure. If I had been in your situation, I would've done the same thing." Then grinning, Isshin said, "Now go on up and talk to your new _friend_."

Ichigo scowled and said, "Don't you start. I'm not trying to date her."

Isshin looked at Ichigo knowingly, "Suuuure. I'll remind you of that in a few months."

Scoffing, Ichigo went up to his room to talk to Tia.

When he got there, Tia was sitting on his bed thinking.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Looking up at him in surprise, Tia said, "No, nothings wrong, it's just that, I haven't put much thought into what I'll do when the soul reapers leave Hueco Mundo. I can''t stay here forever and now that my fraccion is gone, I'm not sure what I'll do."

Giving her a sympathetic look, Ichigo said, "Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you, Ichigo. I haven't expressed it much, but I truly am grateful for all the help you've given me and if there's ever anything I can do for you, you have but to ask."

Before Ichigo could answer, Hichigo made his opinion known.

"**This is your chance, kingy. Tell her strip down and bend over."  
**

** "**_What!?_" thought back Ichigo, shocked. "_I'm not going to tell her to do that._"

"**Why not? She won't be able to deny you after everything you've done for her. Besides, she just said she'd do anything for you. How could you not want to take advantage of an opportunity like this?**" asked the inner hollow angrily.

"_How about because I'm not a horrible person,_" spat back Ichigo angrily.

"**You come to me begging for help and then you don't even take it when I offer it. I should've known you were a hopeless case,**" sneered Hichigo.

"_Help?! How are you helping me. You're telling to all but rape someone,_" shot back Ichigo.

"**I'm helping you fix this fuck up you call a life. Honestly, how could you not have gotten laid yet with all the girls throwing themselves at you. A blind, deaf, and dumb person would have caught on by now, how could you not?**" asked Hichigo,irritated at Ichigo's resistance.

"_Girls don't throw themselves at me,_" countered Ichigo indignantly.

Hichigo let out a mad cackle when he heard this.

"**You really are an idiot. I can think of several off the top of my head who would've bent over the minute you said you wanted to fuck'em,**"

Blushing slightly now, Ichigo thought back defiantly, "_Name three then,_"

Not missing a beat, Hichigo said, "**Orihime, Neliel, Yoruichi."**

"_Bull shit. They wouldn't do anything like that,_" denied Ichigo stubbornly.

At the end of his rope, Hichigo shouted, "**Ahhhh, how could you be such a fucking prude?!**"

"_I am not a prude; I just have morals unlike you,_" denied Ichigo.

"**YOU HAD A GIRL LIVING IN YOUR CLOSET FOR TWO FUCKING MONTHS AND DIDN'T MAKE A MOVE!" **shouted Hichigo angrily.

Growing tired of their argument, Ichigo thought back coldly, "_This conversation is over. I'm not going to make her sleep with me. If I did that then I'd be no better than you._"

Ending the link, Ichigo didn't hear the slew of swear words Hichigo was throwing at him. Instead, he looked at Tia who had a slight blush on her face.

_**With Tia:**_

__When Tia had finished thanking him, she waited for him to say something. It was then that she noticed he had gained a far away look in his eyes accompanied with the occasional eye twitch and, was that a blush?

Tia was thinking what was wrong with him when a familiar voice spoke up in her head.

"**Hey, Tia. You know what you just essentially offered him right?**" asked Tiburon.

"_No, what?_" asked Tia.

"**Oh, come on. You can't think of _anything _that a young growing male might want from a lovely woman such as yourself,**" hinted Tiburon suggestively.

Tia wasn't stupid, she immediately understood what her zanpakuto was implying.

"_Tiburon, don't suggest things like that. To think I'd sleep with him after I've only known him for less than a day is insane,_" said Tia reproachfully.

"**But I thought you said that you'd do _anything _he asked. Don't tell me you're planning on going back on your word,**" teased Tiburon.

Widening her eyes slightly when she realized what Tiburon said was true, Tia asked worriedly, "_You're right, but you don't really think he'd ask for that do you?_"

Still teasing, Tiburon said, "**Oh, I don't know. Did you see that blush. I'd say it's definitely crossed his mind.**"

"_Wha-What?!_" asked Tia, alarmed, a small amount of fear beginning to bloom in her chest.

Noticing she may have taken it too far, Tiburon said, "**Hey, hey, calm down; I was only kidding. There's no way he'd ever force himself on you if that's what you're worried about.**" Then grinning, said, "**But be honest. He is rather handsome isn't he?**"

Tia blushed at the thought as she sent a stealthy glance at Ichigo's arms and chest.

"_I-I don't know what you're talking about,_" she denied, studdering.

"**Just imagine his hands roaming across your body as he slowly works his way down,**" tempted Tiburon, being sure to send images and the feelings associated with them to Tia.

"_Hmmm,_" moaned Tia pleasantly to herself. Then as if a switch had been turned, Tia suddenly flinched as she realized what she'd been thinking.

"_No, stop it; I know it's you that's making me feel this way,_" demanded Tia angrily.

"**Oh, come on, Tia, you don't plan to die a virgin do you? Tell me honestly. How many guys as great as Ichigo have you found?**" said Tiburon, irritated her plan to get Tia to sleep with Ichigo failed.

"_It doesn't matter. Ichigo has done me a great service and I won't hurt him by making him sleep with me._" said Tia harshly.

"'**Why are you being so stubborn about this. You can't honestly tell me you think he's ugly?**" asked Tiburon, exasperated.

"_No, I don't think he's ugly; I think he's very handsome, but I've only known him for less than a day and I can't sleep with someone I've just met, no matter how kind they may seem,_" responded Tia firmly.

"**Sooo, if I'm reading this right, you won't have sex with him now, but you will later, right?**" asked Tiburon curiously.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Tia said, "_No, Tiburon. I don't know Ichigo and I highly doubt we'll be anything more than friends._"

"**With benefits,**" added Tiburon hopefully.

Instead of responding, Tia ended their connection and was surprised to see Ichigo shaking her shoulder.

When Ichigo had ended his conversation with Hichigo, he looked over and saw Tia had a far away look in her eye. Without her paying attention, Ichigo allowed his eyes to roam across her from, taking it in. "_She really is beautiful,_" thought Ichigo, marveling at her smooth olive skin, her bright blonde hair, her mile-long legs, her, uh hmm, assets. He found himself desiring her, maybe he could ask that as a favor, she did own him after all.

Ichigo shook his head, what was he thinking. He could never do something like that. Ichigo then heard a voice sear in the back of his mind.

"Damn hollow," cursed Ichigo, irritated.

Then looking over at Tia, he noticed she was still out of it. He went over and shook her shoulder. She blinked and looked up.

"Oh, uh, Ichigo, did you need something?" she asked, still sounding slightly distracted by whatever she'd been thinking abut.

"No, you were just staring off into the distance. I just wanted to tell you that it was getting late and we should probably get some sleep. I want to take you to the store tomorrow to get some clothes and other essentials for you to use while you're here," explained Ichigo.

"Oh, alright," she said, getting up from his bed and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Ichigo, confused as to why she was leaving the room.

Looking back, she said, "You said it was time for bed, so I got off your bed."

Realization dawning on his face, Ichigo said, "What? No, you can sleep in here."

"But where will you sleep then?" asked Tia, frowning.

"I'll sleep on the couch, " replied Ichigo easily.

Frown deepening, Tia said, "But I'm the guest. I shouldn't take your bed. It wouldn't be right."

Giving s dismissive wave, Ichigo said, "Nonsense. I don't mind you sleeping here."

Still looking unsure, Tia said, "Well, if you're certain it's alright."

"It is; don't worry," said Ichigo, heading towards the door and turning out the light.

"Good night, Tia," said Ichigo as he closed the door.

"Good night, Ichigo," responded Tia.

After Ichigo had left and Tia was alone in the room, she quickly got into bed, noting how much softer and warmer Ichigo's bed was compared to the ones in Hueco Mundo. She couldn't help but think as she drifted off to sleep, that Ichigo was indeed an odd soul reaper.

**If you haven't voted in the poll and you have an account, do it. It takes all of 10 seconds to answer. As of now, almost 50% want Rangiku in the harem along with Ichigo sleeping with other woman. To those concerned that my story might not be serious if he sleeps with a bunch of woman, don't. I'm not going to have him sleep with every woman in soul society, I have a list of the ones that I wouldn't mind doing already in a poll that I'll post after the current one is done. My story also won't be turning into just some smut fic, I would sooner write out all lemons before I did that, so don't worry. Any person I have him sleep with, there will be an actual reason for it. That reason might be for comedic relief if it's someone like Mashiro or it could be for a serious reason if it's Orihime or Rukia.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Phew, I just finished this chapter; I haven't even had time to check for errors in it yet. I tried to update earlier, but I've had midterms all week and that's taken a lot of my time and I'll be on spring break till the 15th I believe, so I'm not sure how much writing I'll get done in that time. Also, the poll for whether Ichigo should sleep with other woman and whether Rangiku should be in his harem will close on Sunday the sixth, so make sure to vote if you haven't already. As always PM if you have any questions or see parts of my story that could be improved as I am a perfectionist and want my story to be perfect.**

**Chapter 7**

"Regular Speech"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hollow Speech**"

Techniques

The next morning, Tia awoke to a delicious aroma filling the air. She slowly opened her eyes, reluctant to move from her comfortable position in Ichigo's bed. Her eyes snapped open. That was right, she was in Ichigo's bed. But if that was true then yesterday...

"Hey, sleepy head," said Ichigo, grinning at her drowsy face.

"Huh," said Tia intelligibility, looking up at Ichigo, confused, her mind not quite awake yet.

Then shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, Tia squinted her eyes to shield them from the invading sunlight. Looking over at Ichigo, she noticed he was carrying a tray filled with a wide assortment of foods if the heavenly smell originating from them was to be believed.

"What's that?" she asked, her mouth watering.

Still grinning, Ichigo replied, "It's breakfast. You slept like a stone and missed normal breakfast, so I made you some and brought it up to you."

"You didn't have to do that for me, Ichigo," said Tia, berating herself for imposing upon Ichigo's kindness yet again.

"No, it's alright. I enjoyed doing it," answered Ichigo dismissively.

The truth was that when Ichigo had come up to wake Tia for breakfast, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. God forbid his dad ever find out, but he thought she was extremely cute when she was asleep. She had shifted during the night so that she lay in a fetal position, hugging her pillow like a doll. She even had a small line of drool running from her mouth.

Yawning, Tia sat up as Ichigo gave her the tray.

Looking at it in curiosity, Tia asked, "What types of foods are these?"

Ichigo was surprised when she asked that, He hadn't thought she might not recognize human foods. None the less, he said, "The yellow part is scrambled eggs, the brown circles are sausage patties, the bigger circles with the syrup running down them are pancakes, the square, toasty part is toast with jam, and the drink next to it all is orange juice."

Tia gave no sign that she'd heard him, instead reaching down for the fork next to the plate and carefully sticking it into the pile of eggs and then just as carefully, moving it to her mouth. Her eyes widened.

The next minute left Ichigo speechless. After that first bite,Tia seemed to remember how hungry she was in this new body. She engulfed the food with gusto. What would have taken a normal person several minutes to eat, Tia finished in less.

"W-Wow, you sure eat fast," said Ichigo, still trying to comprehend how someone could fit that much into their mouths at once. "Do you want more?"

"No, that's alright," replied Tia calmly. Then putting on a look of confusion, she said, "I don't know how to describe it, but it's like I don't want to eat anymore."

Sweat dropping, Ichigo said, "You're full then."

Looking at him, confused, Tia said, "I don't understand." 

Not quite sure what she was getting at, Ichigo answered, "You know, when you've eaten enough and you don't need to eat anymore for a while."

Eyes widening in surprise, Tia said, "What?! Humans don't need to eat."

Realizing that there was more to this than what met the eye, Ichigo frowned slightly and said, "No, humans need to eat, but after we've eaten, we don't need to eat again for several hours."

Looking pensive, Tia said, "That's not what hollows do. When we eat, our hunger gets suppressed, but it never actually fades. That's why we're always hunting for more food because if we go without for too long, the hunger we worked so hard to suppress begins gnawing at the back of our minds, eroding at out sanity. If this then goes on for too long, our minds start to grow twisted and even friends start to look appetizing." Then shuddering, Tia said, "Starvation is something I wouldn't wish even upon Aizen."

Ichigo was greatly disturbed when he heard Tia's account of what it truly felt like to be a hollow. He'd always thought that hollows were just mindless beats out to hurt innocent souls. This by itself was still true for the most part, but it was clear to him now that there was more to it than what he originally believed.

"Will you be alright?" asked Ichigo, concerned.

"Yes, I'll be fine. It's just that it's been so long since I haven't felt the need to go hunt for food that it's surreal," responded Tia, handing the empty plate and tray back to Ichigo as she rose form the bed.

Letting the issue go for now and getting back on track, Ichigo nodded and said, "Alright, were going to be going to the store in a little while to get you some more clothes and anything else you might need while you're staying here. For now though, you should go take a shower in the bathroom right across the hall."

Nodding back, both Tia and Ichigo left the room to do their own individual tasks.

When Tia got to the bathroom, it took her several minutes to figure out how to operate the shower. When she'd come in, she figured there would be some sort of pool to bathe in, but instead there was this odd contraption that sprayed water form a nozzle.

Deciding it was just another quirk of the living world, Tia stripped and stepped in.

_**With Ichigo:**_

Ichigo had gone down stairs to place the used silverware and plate in the washer. When he'd finished, he sat down at the table until heard the water up stairs go off. Figuring Tia had finished, he went back up stairs and waited outside the door for her.

When he saw the door open though, it was like an electric shock went through his body. Tia had stepped out with a towel wrapped around her waist, but nothing more, leaving her chest completely bare before him.

"**Hot damn, that's a nice body,**" whistled Hichigo appreciatively.

Ignoring him, blood began trickling from Ichigo's nose as he shouted panically, "Ahh! T-Tia, why aren't you covered!?"

Tia was just as shocked as Ichigo. When she'd gotten out of the shower, the only towel she could find was a small hand towel that could just barely go around her slim waist. Realizing she would just have to make do, she covered what she could and hoped she'd be able to make it back to Ichigo's room without meeting anyone, least of all Ichigo himself, so of course that's exactly what happened.

Her mind finally catching up with her, Tia immediately gasped and brought her hands up to cover her breasts. This only made the problem worse though as when she thoughtlessly raised her hands, the towel that just barely covered her groin fell to the floor, showing off her hairless mound to Ichigo's widening eyes.

Realizing her blunder, Tia only managed to dig her grave deeper when she dropped her hands from her chest and knelt down to retrieve it, effectively giving Ichigo full view of her nude body.

Unable to take the strain from both Tia's body and Hichigo's cackling anymore, Ichigo's mind proceeded to activate it's prude defenses and fall into a heap on the floor, knocked out cold with blood steadily flowing from his nose.

It took several more moments before Tia had situated herself and noticed Ichigo's unmoving form on the floor. Looking around quickly to make sure no one had saw what just transpired, Tia tried her best to lift Ichigo and drag him back to his room; a task made even more difficult due to the limited strength this body provided her.

Meanwhile, Isshin was grinning stupidly behind the corner, a heap of towels resting behind him.

"I'll have grandchildren one way or another," he said as a slow trickle of blood moved down his face from watching the earlier proceedings.

_**Ichigo's Bedroom:**_

"**Great, Tia, I knew you could do it,**" said Tiburon excitedly.

"_What are you talking about; I didn't do anything?_" questioned Tia, her face still glowing red as she finished placing Ichigo on his bed.

"**Oh, come on. You know what you did. Knocking him out with your body was a stroke of genius even I hadn't thought of. Now all you have to do is get those pants off him and we'll have ourselves a man,**" responded Tiburon, still excited.

Realizing what her zanpakuto had meant, Tia gritted her teeth and thought back angrily, "_I will do no such thing. What just happened was an accident._"

Down stairs, Isshin sneezed.

"**So, I guess Ichigo marveling at your body was an accident too then,**" answered back Tiburon, irritated at being shut down again.

Blushing even more than before, Tia thought back, "_He wasn't marveling at my body; he was just in shock._"

Surprised at her partner's sheer denseness, Tiburon replied, "**You've got to be kidding me. If he was any less a prude, he would've died from blood loss.**"

Frowning, Tia thought, "_Ichigo isn't a prude; he just respects woman._"

"**That's just another way of saying he's a prude,**" retorted Tiburon.

Frown deepening, Tia said dangerously, "_What are you implying?_"

Realizing her words may have been misinterpreted, Tiburon quickly said, "**I mean that no sane man would ever close his eyes in front of a nude woman, especially one of your caliber.**"

Anger appeased, Tia asked, "_Do you think he liked what he saw?_" sounding significantly less sure of herself now.

Grinning like the animal she represented, Tiburon asked, "**Oh, what's this. Does Tia have a crush on Ichigo?**"

Quick to respond, Tia hastily said, "_No, I just was just curious is all. You know what, just forget about it._"

Scoffing, Tiburon replied, "**Whatever. For the record though. For those few moments, all he was thinking about was you.**"

Tia didn't say anything, but somewhere in her mind, she felt quite pleased at that little bit of information. Not that it mattered of course.

Neither Tia or Tiburon got a chance to continue their conversation as Ichigo groaned and began to sit up in his bed.

Tia jumped from where she had been sitting on his bed and got to her feet, nervous about what Ichigo would say.

Sitting up, Ichigo mumbled out a few intelligible words, rubbing his head and the bruise that was forming from his recent trip to the floor.

"**I just want you to know, I have never hated you as much as I hate you now,**" said Hichigo, surprisingly calm.

"_At least I'm doing something right then,_" thought back Ichigo blearily as he slowly looked around the room.

"**Bull shit! Of all the times for you to play pussy and faint, you had to choose then. I can't believe you're able to face down threats a thousand times more powerful than you are, but can't stand to look at naked woman without falling over yourself,**" answered Hichigo angrily.

Not responding as he had noticed Tia standing towards the back wall of his room, he immediately blushed as he remembered what had happened. Luckily though, she had put on some of his clothes during the time he was knocked out, leaving her clothed in an old T-shirt and worn jeans.

Ichigo wanted to say something, but despite his best efforts, couldn't form the words in his mouth, leaving him looking like he was going to say something, but then not.

Ichigo didn't know it, but Tia had the same problem. She wanted to address what just happened and make sure that everything was still alright between them. Logically, she knew that everything should be fine, neither of them had expected what happened to occur and both were caught equally off-guard by it, but never the less, she was still slightly nervous.

Finally managing to speak after several awkward moments, Ichigo asked, "Uh, d-do you just want to ignore what happened and pretend it didn't happen?"

Tia rapidly nodded her head. She 'd never heard of anyone solving their problems by ignoring them before, but it sounded like a great idea. After all, what could be wrong with just living in denial.

Blush slowly beginning to recede, Ichigo said, "Alright then, I was going to take you to the mall today to shop for some things for you while you're here."

Nodding her approval, Tia said, "Alright, I'm ready when you are."

Nodding himself, Ichigo got up and handed Tia a coat to put on while getting one of his own also.

When they were ready, Ichigo was making towards the door when he noticed Tia's slightly uncomfortable look.

What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing, it just that for so long I've had something that covered the bottom half of my face, that it's a bit disconcerting to have it bare all the time.

Putting on a thoughtful expression, Ichigo said, "Hold on, I might have something for that."

Slightly curious as to what Ichigo might have, Tia watched as Ichigo went to his closet and grabbed some form of cloth strip.

"It's a scarf, " he said. "You wrap it around your neck to keep warm, but it'll also wrap around the lower portion of your face."

Handing it to her, Ichigo watched as she put it on and grinned when he heard her hum in approval.

"Thank you, Ichigo, this is much better," said Tia gratefully.

"No problem, now lets go," said Ichigo, continuing onwards out the door.

Ichigo and Tia walked for about half an hour, Ichigo talking and Tia just listening for the most part, occasionally adding her own input.

"And then you should've seen his face when I appeared behind him. Imagine someone like Ulquiorra and you'll have a pretty good idea on what it was like when I pulled the metaphysical rug out from under him. It was priceless, " said Ichigo, grinning as he told her about his fight with Byakuya on Sokyoku hill.

A small smile formed on her face as Tia imagined what it would have been like to see Ulquiorra completely shocked for once.

"I think I would have liked to see that," said Tia, eyes sparkling with concealed mirth.

Grinning back at her, Ichigo said, "Yeah, before I beat him, he was the biggest, most arrogant prick you could imagine. He mellowed out a bit afterwards though. Still a dick though," he said as an after thought.

Tia couldn't help the laughter that escaped her when she heard him.

Ichigo couldn't help his it, his grin widened a little further at hearing Tia's melodious laughter fill the air.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Tia said, "If he was anything like Ulquiorra then it must have been a good fight. He may have been just the fourth Espada, but even Baraggan was weary around him. It was like he was hiding a large portion of his strength."

Ichigo frowned slightly and said simply, "He was."

Looking at him oddly, Tia asked, "What do you mean?"

"When I fought him, he used something even more powerful than your resurreccion. Something he called 'Segunda Etapa'. With it, he was easily stronger than the primera," said Ichigo, frowning as certain memories resurfaced.

Frowning herself, Tia said, "If you had said that about any other Espada, I wouldn't have believed you, but Ulquiorra always did seem to be stronger than he on." Then looking at him, she asked, "But if her was so strong, how was he defeated?"

Frown deepening, Ichigo said, "I'd prefer not to say. Just know that it was I that beat him."

"**Pussy,**" said Hichigo, scoffing.

"_Quiet. You're going to answer questions on that later,_" thought back Ichigo angrily.

"**Hm, I'll think about after I get my time in Hueco Mundo,**" answered back Hichigo uncaringly, seemingly unbothered by Ichigo's anger.

Ignoring his Hollows blatant disrespect, Ichigo looked back at Tia who was looking at him oddly.

Accepting Ichigo's answer, Tia nodded in response and said, "That's alright. I'm sorry for making you remember."

When Ichigo didn't respond, Tia looked over at him to see him staring off into space.

"Ichigo?" she called out.

Ichigo blinked and looked over at her.

"Hm, did you say something? Sorry, my head was in the clouds," said Ichigo apologetically.

"I apologized for bringing up bad memories about Ulquiorra," answered back Tia.

Frown returning, Ichigo said, "It's alright, you didn't know." Then grinning, pointed and said, "It doesn't matter anyway, we're here."

When Tia looked over towards where Ichigo was pointing, she was shocked at the sheer size of the building. Sure, it wasn't quite the size of Las Noches, but it was still massive.

When they had arrived in the store, Tia looked towards Ichigo and asked, "What do we do now?"

Putting on a thoughtful expression, Ichigo said, "Well, first we should go and get you some more clothes that way you have a few different outfits to choose from."

"Okay then, I'll follow you," said Tia calmly.

When they arrived in the clothing section, Tia was amazed at the wide variety of options displayed before her. There had to be thousands of different choices in her here.

"Alright, here we are," said Ichigo. "I'll go wait over there while you look around for any clothes you think you might like. Just come find me when you're done, alright."

Tia nodded as they both went their separate ways.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Tia went back to Ichigo with a bundle of clothes in her arms.

"Okay, I've found some I find aesthetically pleasing," said Tia calmly.

Grinning, Ichigo said, "Good, now we'll go to the changing rooms so you can see if they fit you."

Ichigo then led Tia to a section of the clothing section she hadn't explored yet. Eventually they stopped in front of a series of small rooms.

"Go on in and I'll wait here for you. After you've changed you can come back out and look in the mirror," explained Ichigo.

Tia nodded and went in, locking the door behind her.

Ichigo sat there in silence as he waited for Tia to finish. Trying to avoid looking at the bottom of the door where he could see Tia in the process of stripping. During this time, an unwelcome presence made it self known.

"**Oh, if only there was some way to look through that door,**" lamented Hichigo suggestively. "**Oh, wait, there is,**" he said grinning.

"_Don't even think about it. There's no way I'm sensing through that door,_" thought back Ichigo, yawning.

"**You fucking prude. How long are you going to go without getting laid. If I was in control, I would have already fucked, impregnated, and ditched almost every girl you know,**" shot back Hichigo angrily.

"_I'll get a relationship when I'm ready. Unlike you, I actually want more from a relationship than just sex _" said Ichigo irritated.

"**When you're ready,**" said Hichigo angrily. "**If you haven't caught on yet, dipshit, you hit puberty six years ago.**"

Scowling, Ichigo thought back, "_You know what I meant. I'm not going to invade Tia's privacy by peeking on her._"

"**Ah, how'd I get stuck with a loser like you! With you in control, we're going to end up dying a virgin!**" shouted Hichigo angrily.

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo thought back, "_What if I promise not to die a virgin. Will that make you happy?_"

"**NO, I want us to die from every STD known to man!**" shouted back Hichigo angrily.

"_You idiot, I'm not getting STD's just so you can be happy,_" answered back Ichigo, irate.

"**Alright, alright, I hear you. I'll worry about healing us from anything you contract and you'll nail anything with breasts. Sound fair,**" said Hichigo, bargaining.

A tick-mark growing on his head, Ichigo thought back, "_Were not bargaining you pervert._"

"**Hey, just remember that I'm a reflection of your most hollow like traits. It's not my fault you're a closet pervert in denial,**" retorted Hichigo snidely.

Ichigo was about to respond when he hear Tia call out to him.

"Ichigo, can you come here?"

Curious, Ichigo got up and walked towards the changing room Tia was in.

Opening the door when he got there, he asked, "What is i-"

He stopped mid sentence in shock when he noticed what Tia was wearing. Instead of the old clothes he had let her borrow, which lay neatly folded on the bench next to her, she was wearing a cropped top that showed off her toned stomach along with a matching pair of the smallest shorts he'd ever seen. Those things looked like they barely covered her groin as it was, never mind if she bent over.

Stifling a nose bleed, Ichigo asked, aghast, "Tia, what are you wearing."

Surprised at his reaction, Tia said, "I'm wearing some clothes I found that looked like they'd offer a wide range of movement."

"_Wide range of movement she says,_" thought Ichigo to himself. "_If those clothes offered any more 'freedom', she'd be naked._"

"**I like it,**" said Hichigo, grinning lecherously.

"_Shut up. I knew you'd like. If her shirt was any shorter, you could see her bra_," said Ichigo, looking at Tia's shirt of choice.

Then scowling, Ichigo looked closer at Tia's shirt. Paling considerably, he said, "Uh, Tia, are you wearing a bra?"

"A bra? What's that?" asked Tia, confused as to Ichigo's odd behavior.

Somehow paling even more, Ichigo said, "You know, undergarments. Those things you put on under your regular clothes, like a bra to support your breasts and a pair of p-panties to cover your groin."

Appearing even more confused, Tia said, "No, I don't have anything like that on. All I'm wearing is what you see."

Face suddenly going from deathly pale to redder than an apple, Ichigo thought, "_If that's true, then if a strong breeze should blow and Tia's shorts get blown up..._"

"**Hahaha,**" cackled Hichigo madly as Ichigo's face grew steadily redder as his thoughts continued down a less than moral path.

Reaching his limit, Ichigo turned around stiffly and walked two steps before crashing to the floor in a heap.

"Ichigo!" exclaimed Tia, worriedly.

"_You said he'd like it,_" thought Tia accusingly as she checked Ichigo over for any injuries.

"**Yeah, and it seems I was right,**" said Tiburon, grinning.

"_What are you talking about, he collapsed on the floor?_" answered back Tia, irritated.

"**Poor, poor, innocent Tia. Ichigo only did that because he couldn't withstand the magnificence that is our body,**" answered back Tiburon, shaking her head in mock disapproval.

Growing a tick mark, Tia responded, "_What do you mean? Stop speaking in riddles._"

"**Come on, you can't be this dense. Just look in the mirror. That should tell you why Ichigo fainted,**" said Tiburon, exasperated.

Narrowing her eyes, Tia looked back at the full body mirror mounted on the wall next to her. She hadn't actually thought to check how she looked before she called in Ichigo, thus when she saw her appearance, she was shocked. No wonder he'd fainted, she was hardly wearing anything.

"_Tiburon! Why would you tell me to put something this scandalous on?_" demanded Tia angrily.

"**Um..., because I thought you'd look good in them,**" answered Tiburon lamely, knowing she was screwed.

Suffice to say, Tia didn't buy it. "_You're still trying to get me to sleep with him, aren't you?_" she accused angrily.

"**Nooo...,**" answered back Tiburon, averting her eyes.

Glaring inwardly at her zanpakuto spirit, Tia thought back angrily, "_I've already told you, I'm not sleeping with Ichigo regardless of any of your machinations._"

"**Come on, Tia, I'm just trying to help you. You don't honestly want to spend the rest of you life alone, do you?**" complained Tiburon.

"_We won't be alone,_" answered back Tia stubbornly. "_We'll have each other and we'll have Ichigo as friend. We don't need anyone else._"

"**I'm a personification of your soul; you can't lie to me. I know that you don't really believe that. You want someone who'll view you as an equal and won't betray you like Aizen. Mila, Sung Sun, and Apachi filled this role somewhat, but they always looked to you as a superior, never an equal. At best, they were like daughters to you, not someone you could turn to when you needed help or you were troubled by something,**" retorted Tiburon angrily.

Tia was silent for a moment as Tiburon waited for her response until she said, "_You may be right, but even if I do desire that type of bond with someone, it wouldn't be with Ichigo; it would be with another hollow._"

"**Oh, really, then why did you ask me if I thought Ichigo would like the original clothes you picked out?**" asked Tiburon pointedly.

Bristling, Tia said, "_I only asked that because he was a human and would know the common styles to help me fit in better._"

"**Bull shit. You wanted to know if he'd like how you looked,**" snorted Tiburon.

Gritting her teeth to prevent herself from giving a biting remark, Tia calmly said, "_It doesn't matter what you say; I know my own feelings._"

Sighing, Tiburon didn't respond, slightly saddened that Tia wouldn't see sense. Didn't she know that she only wanted to see her happy.

When Tiburon didn't respond, Tia frowned, feeling slightly guilty at the saddened emotions coming from her zanpakuto. She hadn't meant to offend her. She was just irritated at her partner's constant pestering for her to sleep with Ichigo.

Resolving to make it up to her later, Tia consoled herself in the fact that she knew her own feelings better than anyone and if she had any feelings towards Ichigo other than friendship, she would know, right?

**Several Minutes Later:**

Ichigo slowly returned to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he realized that he was lying on a bench with Tia looking down at him in concern.

Lifting himself, Ichigo noted, slightly embarrassed, that this head had been resting on Tia's lap.

"Are you alright?" asked Tia, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Ichigo, looking towards Tia and noting her new clothing. Instead of the _slightly _revealing clothes she had worn earlier, she now wore a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her legs like a second skin and a sleeveless, pale lilac colored shirt with small ruffles at the bottom edges. In Ichigo's honest opinion, she looked quite stunning.

"Wow, uh, Tia, you look really nice in your new clothes," said Ichigo awekardly.

"**Real smooth, king,**" mocked Hichigo.

"_Shut up,_" thought back Ichigo.

Tia blushed slightly and said, "Thank you, I changed from the last clothes I had after I got some bad advice from a friend of mine. I'm sorry about embarrassing you like that though."

"It's alright; I was shocked is all," said Ichigo, rubbing the back of his head.

"So," he said when Tia didn't say anything, "are you ready?"

"Yes, while you were knocked out, I grabbed several more outfits along with some undergarments," answered back Tia.

Blushing slightly at the reminder of Tia's lack of unmentionables, Ichigo said, "Alright, then there are only a few more things we need to get for you and we can leave."

Roughly 30 minuets later, Ichigo and Tia were standing in line as the teller rang them up.

Grinning, the middle aged woman manning the station said teasingly, "Getting your girlfriend some new clothes are we."

"Uh, no, I'm just helping her shop, "said Ichigo, blushing slightly.

"Hm, that's fine too I guess. I wish my husband would be so kind as to take me out shopping," said the teller absentmindedly as she pointed for Ichigo to swipe his debit card.

Following through, when Ichigo swiped his card and got his confirmation receipt, he was shocked at his ending balance. Coming into the store, he had had several thousand dollars saved up in his back account from all the hollows he'd killed as a soul reaper. Turned out that every time he killed a hollow, the Soul Society would deposit 100 hundred dollars into his account. He didn't question how they'd gotten his bank information, but apparently they must have counted all the arrancar and Espada he defeated because his balance now numbered in the tens of millions.

"Holy shit," he mumbled quietly.

"What?" asked Tia curiously.

"Oh, uh, nothing," said Ichigo, not wanting to discuss his finances in front of a stranger.

When they had collected Tia's clothes and were on their way home, Tia asked, "What was that thing you gave the teller back at the mall?"

"Hm, oh, that was just my debit card. I used it to pay for the clothes," answered Ichigo casually.

"What!? You paid for the clothes with your money?" asked Tia aghast, hating that she'd just infringed upon Ichigo's kindness again.

Frowning, Ichigo said, "Well, yeah, someone had to pay for them and I figured you didn't have any money or even knew how it worked, so I paid for it. Why, is there a problem?"

Appearing conflicted, Tia responded, "Yes, you've taken me in and been nothing but kind to me. I don't want to continue to impose upon your kindness by taking your money too."

Scowling, Ichigo turned towards her and said, "Tia, I've been kind and helped you because I want to, not because I want something in return. The same thing is true for my money. I wanted to buy those clothes for you because you needed them and I could." Then smiling slightly, said, "Besides, if it makes you feel better, with all the money I've saved up from killing hollows and defeating Aizen, I've got more than I could ever possibly spend. I could have bought every article of clothing in that store and it wouldn't have put a dent in my fortune."

Tia didn't say it, but that did make her feel a little better knowing that she wasn't straining Ichigo. None the less, she said, "I just don't want to be a burden to you. All I've done so far is live off of you without giving anything in return. It might be because I'm a hollow, but kindness without asking for anything in return in Hueco Mundo is nigh nonexistent."

"Well, I guess I'm the exception then. You're not a burden to me and you never will be. In the few days I've known you, I've enjoyed your company and that's all the compensation I could ask for," said Ichigo firmly.

Smiling gently, Tia said, "I know I've already told you this, but I truly am grateful for everything you've done for me and if there's ever anything I can do in return; you have but to ask."

Ichigo smiled too and said, "No problem, and if there's ever anything you need, I'll do anything I can to help."

As they walked the rest of the way home, Tia couldn't help the small smile that found itself on her face as her opinion of Ichigo rose a few more notches.

When they walked though the door, Isshin immediately came down upon Ichigo yelling.

"MASAKI, OUR SON HAS FINALLY HAD HIS FIRST DATE!"

Tia smiled silently at this. She could clearly see the affection Isshin had for his son and the rest of his family despite his odd way of showing it.

"Shut up, old man, all I did was take Tia out for some clothes," said Ichigo grumpily.

"Come on, Tia, lets go up to my room, so we can put away those clothes," he said as he began his ascent up the stairs.

"Alright," she said, following him up.

Isshin just grinned like a maniac as he watched Tia follow Ichigo up the stairs. Just yesterday, she'd been a walking bundle of nerves, but now after spending just a few hours with Ichigo, she seemed to to have relaxed a bit and maybe even enjoy her time around him.

"You sure work fast, Ichigo," he said to himself.

After Ichigo and Tia had finished putting away all her new clothes, Tia asked curiously, "What are we going to do for the rest of today?

"Well, shopping was all I had planned for us for today, but Soul Society is making me the captain of a new squad, so I'll probably head over there soon and get that taken care of," said Ichigo thoughtfully.

Tia was shocked. She said, "A captain? There going to make you a captain? But you're still alive and so young."

Snorting, Ichigo said, "Yeah, I know. I reminded them of that when they told me, but they didn't seem to care. I found out what was up in the end though. Turns out that when the Seireitei went to war against Aizen, Soul Society was put under military rule, but now that the war is over, a new Central 46 will be elected and the captains are afraid that they'll see me as a threat and try to have me killed."

"What?!" asked Tia, horrified. "But didn't you save them? You said you were the one that defeated Aizen."

Looking at her grimly, Ichigo replied, "I did, but they're afraid of anything they don't control and as I'm only loosely affiliated with Soul Society, they're worried I might dethrone them or something. The hope is that by making me a captain and thus firmly allying myself with Soul Society, Central 46 will leave me alone."

Tia's face contorted angrily as she said, "Those bastards. How could they betray you like that? Without you, Soul Society would've been destroyed and Aizen would've won."

Smiling sympathetically, Ichigo said, "It's alright. I figured I'd end up being a captain anyway with the power I have now; I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

"Yeah, but it still isn't fair. I just don't understand how they could be afraid of you when their entire way of life revolves around soul reapers. What's there to be afraid of?" asked Tia, irritated.

"Well, I'm not just a soul reaper," said Ichigo.

"What?" asked Tia, confused.

Elaborating, Ichigo said, "I mean that I'm more than just a soul reaper. My mom was a quincy, my dad a soul reaper, and I've had a inner hollow since before I was born. I'm essentially a perfect hybrid between all three powers. Throw in that I'm also a human and you've got cause for disaster right there."

"Wait, are saying that you're also a hollow?" asked Tia, shocked.

"Yeah, partially, but I can only open gargantas," explained Ichigo.

Tia was still in shock from discovering that Ichigo was like her, a hybrid.

"D-Do you have a mask?" asked Tia shakily.

"_Hichigo,_" thought Ichigo, trying to get the hollow's attention. "_Is there anyway I could summon my mask to show Tia without mixing our powers?_"

"**Hm, well, seeing as it might help us get laid, I suppose I'll help you this once for free,**" mused Hichigo lazily, lying on a rock sunning himself.

Dragging himself up from his resting spot, Hichigo said, "**Hand control over to me and watch what I do.**" Feeling Ichigo about to say something, Hichigo said, "**Don't worry, I won't do anything but form the mask.**"

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Ichigo conceded. He felt his hollow slide into his consciousness alongside him. Due to past experience, he didn't react when he felt his left arm raise and swipe across his face.

And just as fast as he appeared, Hichigo disappeared, leaving Ichigo wearing his hollow mask, though without any of the boosts it usually afforded him.

Tia was shocked again. She hadn't really believed that Ichigo could be part hollow, let alone part quincy, but the proof sat right before her in the form of the mask that now adorned Ichigo's face.

Not speaking, Tia stepped forward and gently touched Ichigo's mask. Her eyes widened, there was no mistaking it; this was a genuine hollow mask.

"How? Are you like those masked soul reapers that also fought Aizen?" asked Tia, looking at Ichigo seriously.

Sighing, he said, "I suppose you could say that. The people you're talking about are called the vizords, but unlike them, my case is a bit unique." 

"Explain," said Tia calmly.

Nodding, Ichigo said, "When I was still developing within my mom, a hollow attacked her and tried to infect her, so that it could take over her soul. It didn't know she was pregnant though and accidentally infected me as a result, but due to my soul still forming, it mixed and fused with my soul completely, giving me an inner hollow and the ability to learn any hollow technique. There's more to it than that, and I might tell you later when I get to know you better, but for now, will that suffice?"

Tia nodded silently and said "Yes, thank you for telling me this."

Then grinning, Ichigo said, "No problem. I'm going to go to Soul Society and get that captain business sorted out. You can just stay here and maybe bond with my sisters or something, alright?"

"I can do that," responded Tia, affirmatively.

"Okay then, I'll probably be back in a few hours, so don't wait up for me," said Ichigo as he focused and ripped open a garganta.

Tia already knew, but she was none the less amazed when Ichigo, a soul reaper for all intents and purposes, opened a garganta right in front of her.

Watching Ichigo step through, Tia was soon left alone in the room.

Going over and sitting down, Tia sighed, she had a lot to think about now.

"**Yep, because now you need a new excuse,**" quipped Tiburon happily.

"_Quiet._"

_**Soul Society:**_

When Ichigo exited the garganta, he was immediately grateful that no alarms went off due to his appearance in Soul Society.

Whistling a tune he'd heard on the radio a while back, Ichigo began his walk towards the first division's captain's chambers.

When he arrived at the, thankfully unguarded, door, he could hear Kurotsuchi yelling something from within.

Not delaying any longer, Ichigo opened the door and stepped in, causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, why have you come here?" questioned Yamamoto. "I excused your last appearance coinciding with the activation of the reiryoku limit alarm as mere coincidence, but not this time. Several witnesses state they saw you exit an undetected garganta. Explain," he demanded.

Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Ichigo said, "Alright, alright. I admit it; both those events were my fault."

His face hardening, Yamamoto remained silent and waited for Ichigo to explain.

Realizing it'd be best for everyone involved for him just to explain, Ichigo said, "When I came to Soul Society two days ago, the alarm that went off activated because of me."

"Impossible. That alarm measures the amount of reiryoku within a soul. To make it go off, you'd need more reiryoku than each of the captain's combined, including the head captain. No person could ever contain that much power, much less a human" sneered Kurotsuchi.

"Have you already forgotten Aizen?" asked Ichigo, irritated. "If I recall, he not only managed to gain that level of power, but also use it to almost wipe out the 13 Court Guard Squads. I would've thought someone as _brilliant _as you could remember something so important."

"Don't mock me, boy; I've lived over twenty of your lifetimes. In that time I've learned and done more than your feeble mind could even begin to comprehend. I-" Kurotsuchi would have continued his tirade, but Yamamoto silenced him with a flare of his spiritual pressure.

"Hold you tongue, Captain Kurotsuchi." commanded Yamamoto angrily. Then turning towards Ichigo, said, "Your power feels considerably more potent than last I sensed it, but it is hardly at the level you describe. Have you learned to suppress it?"

Speaking out before Ichigo could respond, Soi Fon asked, "Head Captain, are you truly considering trusting this boy's word on a matter as sensitive as this? Isn't possible he could have lied or at the very least been biased in his description?"

Remaining impassive, Yamamoto answered, "For serving Soul Society and failing to give ample reason to mistrust him, we will trust his word until after his inauguration where proof will be provided."

He knew his tale was far fetched at it was, thus Ichigo was grateful when the head captain gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Thank you," Ichigo, nodding his head towards the head captain.

Yamamoto merely grunted and motioned for Ichigo to continue.

Taking his cue, Ichigo answered the head captain's previous question, "Yes, I managed to learn the basics on how to suppress my power and for the next week, I'll be focusing on perfecting my control over it, but after that, a seal I placed on my power to help me learn to control it will break and my strength will skyrocket."

"How much of your power did you seal away?" asked the captain commander.

"Uh, I'm not sure actually," said Ichigo sheepishly. "I had my zanpakuto, Zangetsu, seal away as much as he could. I could as him though if you'd like," he offered.

"No, that won't be necessary," responded Yamamoto calmly. "We will see how powerful you are after the inauguration ceremony."

Nodding his head, Ichigo asked, "And when will that be?"

"As you are already here, we will hold the ceremony in a few hours," answered Yamamoto.

"So soon?" asked Ichigo, eyes widening. "I was only here two days ago, that can't possibly have been enough time to get everything ready."

"Do not underestimate the efficiency of the Court Guard Squads. When you last left Soul Society, preparations were made and placed on hold until your next visit. Now that you are here though, it will take but a few hours for the ceremony to commence," said Yamamoto, a small bit of pride coloring his voice.

"Well, I guess I'm ready when you guys are then," said Ichigo, still slightly surprised things were moving along so quickly. Last time he ended up standing here for what felt like forever explaining his actions against Aizen.

"No!" shouted Kurotsuchi indignantly. "There's still the matter of the garganta opening undetected in the Seireitei that needs to be addressed."

"Oh, yeah, I had to come to Soul Society by garganta because I can't open senkaimon," said Ichigo, shrugging his shoulders.

The atmosphere in the room which had been relatively relaxed,suddenly grew much more serious.

Noting this, Ichigo said, "Okay..., I take that's a bad thing."

"Head Captain!" said Soi Fon angrily. "This boy has just confessed to using forbidden techniques. Something like this can't be ignored, he must be punished!"

"Be quiet, Captain Soi Fon," commanded Yamamoto sternly.

"Bu-," began Soi Fon.

Raising his spiritual pressure threateningly, Yamamoto turned and glared at Soi Fon.

Bowing her head, Soi Fon said, "Yes, Head Captain, I'm sorry for my insubordination."

Accepting her apology wordlessly, Yamamoto turned back to Ichigo who was starting to fidget.

Glaring at him sternly, Yamamoto said simply, "Explain."

Nodding readily, Ichigo said, "After the captain's meeting two days ago ended, I went to the R/D department to get my zanpakuto registered to open senkaimon. When I got there, Captain Kurotsuchi told me to place my zanpakuto into the machine and let my reiryoku flow into it. Unfortunately though, it exploded from being unable to handle reiryoku as dense as my own, thus preventing me from opening senkaimons."

"Ichigo Kurosaki, 100 years ago you would have been tried and executed without preamble for using forbidden hollow techniques for whatever the reason," spoke Yamamoto gravely.

"I'm sensing a 'but'," said Ichigo hopefully.

"_But _in light of the recent war and events leading up to it, I have been led to believe that such actions may be too extreme."

Remaining silent, Ichigo listened as the captain commander said.

"Because of this, I am willing to overlook this infraction and allow your continued use of garganta provided you inform myself and the captains present of your current skill in using hollow techniques," finished Yamamoto.

Soi Fon looked like she wanted to say something, but wisely stayed silent.

Sighing in relief, Ichigo said, " Alright, I can do that." Then recomposing himself and glancing at each of the assembled captains, said, "As of now I can only open gargantas, but I have an arrangement with my inner hollow were he'll teach me new hollow techniques when I need them."

Soi Fon looked about ready to explode at hearing this, but a quick glare from Yamamoto was enough to silence her.

Frowning, Yamamoto said, "We will speak more of your inner hollow at a later date, but for now, it is time to prepare for your ceremony."

Hearing this, the assembled captains began making their way to the exit, intent on preparing for the upcoming event.

_**Three hours later:**_

"_The old man wasn't kidding when he boasted about the efficiency of the Court Guard Squads,_" thought Ichigo as he stared nervously out at almost 3000 soul reapers from a large outdoor stage.

Looking over to his right, Ichigo saw each of the captains standing in line alongside him in descending order.

Seeming to sense Ichigo's discomfort, Ukitake leaned over and whispered, "Relax, Ichigo, it's not as bad as it seems. I remember when we had to do this for Captain Hitsugaya, he could hardly keep himself from shaking, but despite that, it all went off without a hitch and yours will be no different."

Ichigo didn't say anything back, instead trying to imagine what it must have been like for Toshiro to stand in front of so many people. As he thought of this, he couldn't help but grin slightly at the thought of the diminutive captain shaking with nerves.

When he heard Yamamoto's cane clacking against the wood, Ichigo turned to watch the old man make his way up the stairs and to the podium until he stood staring out at the assembled soul reapers.

Silence fell as soon as Yamamoto began his ascent up the stairs.

"Soul reapers," he began loudly. "Four days ago the war with Aizen ended." Silence reigned as Yamamoto spoke. "Four days ago a hero rose to challenge Aizen when the combined might of the 13 Court Guard Squads couldn't."

Continuing, Yamamoto said, "This hero though, was not a soul reaper. No, this hero was substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki who single handily faced down Aizen in mortal combat and defeated him when no one before him could."

"It is for this act of bravery and duty that we honor him here today by making him the new captain of the 14th division."

"Ichigo Kurosaki, step forth," commanded Yamamoto loudly.

Ichigo walked up steadily, trying his best to remain calm and not embarrass himself.

Standing in front of the head captain and thousands of wondering eyes, Ichigo gulped as Yamamoto said.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, do you swear to uphold the laws of the Soul Society with all your strength?"

"Yes," said Ichigo calmly, grateful that his voice wasn't cracking.

"Do you swear to protect Soul Society from threats both foreign and domestic till your death?"

"Yes," said Ichigo, looking the captain commander in the eyes.

"Then, for your selfless duty and sacrifice in the defense of Soul Society despite being under no obligation to do so, I formerly name you captain of the Gotei Special Task Force," proclaimed Yamamoto. "Take your haori and wear it proudly."

Ichigo took the offered coat and put it on, smiling slightly when he noticed the insignia on the back was a single, black crescent moon.

Stepping towards the edge of the stage, Ichigo stared out at the thousands of eyes straining to see him. It started as a low rumble, but clapping and cheers soon dominated the air around him as people celebrated his new status.

After a minute Ichigo stepped back and took his former place in line next to Ukitake who smiled at him proudly.

The ceremony drew to a close soon after that and soul reapers were given the rest of the day off to celebrate their new captain. Despite the numerous parties that he would no doubt be welcome at, Ichigo took the nearest opportunity to excuse himself politely from the multitude of people that had stormed him, asking a million questions.

Retreating to a nearby alley, Ichigo opened a garganta, anxious to get back to his family and Tia. A moment later, he was gone.

**Finally, stuff is starting to move along. I'm not completely happy with how this chapter turned out, so I'll likely post an updated copy in a few days that fixes grammar errors and some of the tiny errors that are certainly present in the chapter.**


End file.
